Legacy of the Toad Sage
by The Shadows Blade
Summary: Naruto is unable to pass his graduation exam. As he stews in his depression an old toad offers assistance. As the foxes and toads play a new legend will be born. -not yaoi
1. Chapter 1: Encounter

Legacy of the Toad Sage

-12-1-2013-

AN: I own nothing.

Atop the Hokage tower stand two men, gazing over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The afternoon seemed to bath the village in twilight and all seemed peaceful. Only today will Konoha receive its newest batch of genin, just having graduated from the academy. All of the excitable new shinobi run home to be congratulated by their parents, other than a certain duck haired Uchiha who was ecstatic as he seemingly takes another step towards his lifelong goal of vengeance. All is right with the world as the village reveled in its happiness, a sentiment shared by all except for a certain orange wearing blond who had failed to pass his genin exams.

"So the brat didn't make it?" One of the men says with an odd tone in his voice. This man was over six feet tall with long spiky white hair and two red tear like markings on his face. This man was Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin, the spymaster of Konoha.

"That's right Jiraiya-kun. It appears despite his best efforts Naruto-kun was unable to pass the Genin graduation exam. I'm sure you can figure out why I called you just before you were planning to leave." Sarutobi Hiruzen, an elderly man in red and white robes, says as he takes a drag of his pipe.

The Toad Sage nods sending a quick, almost unnoticeable glance at most recently added of the massive faces on the Hokage Monument. "The deal I made with Kakashi four years ago right? If the kid graduates then Kakashi gets to have him in his team but if he fails I take him as my apprentice and have him rotate through the teams when I have to manage my spy network."

The Hokage blows out a ring of smoke. "He's quite distraught Jiraiya-kun. Had you not been in the neighborhood I would have found some way to pass him even if it was only on a technicality."

Jiraiya shrugs "It's probably better this way anyway. If he's anything like me then it's probably better that Kakashi isn't his teacher. By the way do you want me to tell him about the fox? If I do I can have him summon Gamabunta using its chakra like I initially planned.'

"No I would prefer you didn't unless you had no other choice. I intend for Naruto-kun to remain unaware until he achieved chunin rank and at the moment I see no reason to inform the poor boy. Especially not while his heart is still heavy from failing his exams."

"I see... I guess I could start him on the Rasengan..." Jiraiya mumbles rubbing his chin.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Jiraiya-kun? The whole reason he couldn't graduate in the first place was due to his lack of chakra control."

"Well what else do you expect me to do? I'm running out of ideas here!"

"Why not work on the other problems that stopped him from graduating? Fix his taijutsu, educate him in genjutsu, and perhaps work on his chakra control to fix the problem he had with the bunshin no jutsu. Not only that but you could also teach him about tactics, politics and many other things he would need to know to become Hokage."

"About that... there's a reason I want to beef the boy up. I'll explain the specifics later but long story short there are people who are planning to hunt the Jinchuriki. Strong people who know exactly what they signed up for. As he is now Naruto's no better than a civilian and he'll stand less than a snowballs chance in hell."

Sarutobi's eyes narrow at the uncharacteristically serious look on his student's face. "Exactly how strong?"

"S-rank. All of them and Orochimaru was just recently kicked out by that brat Itachi. That's how I know about them."

The Sandaime's eyes widen at the mention of Itachi's name. The Uchiha was easily S-rank in and of himself. While Hiruzen was sure that Itachi would never do anything to harm the village from the way Jiraiya had said it, it sounded like it wasn't just one person...

"How long do we have, Jiraiya-kun?"

Jiraiya grimaces "Four years at the most."

Taking a puff of his pipe the Sandaime tries to calm his nerves. While he has to worry about the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi as the Hokage there is also a part of the old man who truly saw the yellow haired boy as a grandson and wants to do everything in his power to protect him. The Sandaime Hokage is no fool. He knows that in the time that this mysterious group begins hunting the Jinchuriki he himself would be in no position to defend his surrogate grandson due to his age, and the number of shinobi he has that could defeat an S-rank nuke nin while defending even a jonin level shinobi were in the single digits at best. S-rank shinobi were the cream of the crop, nuke nin even more.

"Go introduce yourself to your new apprentice first. I need to think about this. Be sure to get those 'specifics' to me later."

The Toad Sage nods before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

-0-0-

Uzumaki Naruto sighs for what seemed like the thousandth time today. He had failed. It was so unfair. If it wasn't for that one jutsu Naruto would have been able to pass, the dead last yes but still able to pass. He would be a super badass shinobi and one step closer to achieving his dream of being Hokage and being acknowledged. But no, just because of the stupid bunshin he wasn't able to pass his genin exam. That meant no head band. No becoming a shinobi and no Hokage.

Letting out another sigh Naruto picks up a pebble and throws it at the river ahead of him. The round stone bounces off the water's surface a few times before sinking. At the moment the yellow haired Uzumaki was deep in the forest in front of a small river. He wanted to stew in his depression alone. In order to avoid being found Naruto had switched the jacket of his orange jumpsuit for a dark blue t shirt with an orange spiral motif. While the boy was normally all for displaying the awesomeness of orange to the world, orange was a color for awesome shinobi, not failure shinobi-wana-be civilians.

Picking up another round stone, this one the size of his palm, Naruto feels his anger rising. It was so damned unfair! Alone he had struggled these past four years and would have graduated if it weren't for that stupid clone jutsu! No one had helped him, no parents for him to come home to, no teachers to assist him and no friends to support him! Alone he had struggled and just barely managed to get his grades up and if it wer-

Naruto's eyes widen, a loud cracking noise filled the clearing as a sharp pain shot through his hand. Looking down he realizes that the stone he had been gripping in his hand has shattered, the shards embedding themselves into his hand. Once again sighing the boy lets his legs fall from under him, landing on his butt. Pulling out the shards imbedded in his hand the blond boy ignores the blood seeping from his palm and began staring into the river contemplating his failure. Naruto wasn't actually paying attention to what he was seeing, his mind unable to focus on anything but how his dream was forever out of reach. The river just happening to be in the direction of his eyesight. However, had he been paying attention to his reflection in the river he would have noticed its irises turn from a blood red back to a normal sky blue.

-0-0-

The Toad Sage grumbles as he trudges through the village. Even though he had been looking for the boy for a good two hours he hadn't been able to find hide nor hair of him. The kid wore bright orange for kami's sake! How in the world was it so hard to find him?

Passing a hot spring Jiraiya can't help but let his eyes drift to the women's section of the springs. The sound of feminine giggling and splashing water could be heard over the fence. Letting out a perverse giggle of his own the Toad Sage snuck over to gather some 'research'.

Carefully navigating his way over to the designated peek hole for this hot spring the old man giggles once again as he gazes through the circular warp in the wooden fence surrounding the baths. The Toad Sage's eyes rove over the many naked females in the baths, their modesty only preserved by the (un)fortunate density of the stream at certain places.

"So did you hear? The Kyubi brat didn't pass his graduation exam." Says one of the females in the bath "Maybe the Hokage will finally get rid of it."

"Maybe he already did? It's not like anyone would miss it."

From what Jiraiya is able to tell the two women that are talking are just civilians, those who have no idea about the true nature of the Kyubi's Jinchuriki but that knowledge did nothing to ease the pain in his heart. That pain was only compounded by the reminder of how he had failed the boy in his duty as his godfather. From what his sensei had informed him over the years, the people who truly accept and care for Naruto in the village could be counted on one hand and that was even when he included Jiraiya and himself. And of those people two of them never even bother to interact with the boy or really have any impact in his life at all.

'_I'm supposed to be comforting the kid right now and instead I'm here doing this...'_

His mood spoiled the Toad Sage stands up with a sad frown on his face. Preforming a quick shunshin Jiraiya appears in a forest clearing. While he could do this inside of the village it was easier when he was in an area where nature was less disturbed. The Toad Sage allows a small amount of natural energy to mix with his chakra, not enough for him to initiate Sage Mode but enough so that he can sense the energies in the surrounding area. For a moment the energies in the surrounding area are clear to his mind's eye and using that he zeros in on the chakra of his godson. While each person has a unique chakra Naruto's chakra had always felt bright and energetic but for some reason now it is now dull and lethargic. Jiraiya had known that Naruto would be depressed from not being able to graduate but he didn't think that it would affect him this much.

Standing up and expelling the small amount of natural energy from his system the Toad Sage executes another series of quick shunshins and appears in a forested area near the edge of the village. The sound of rushing water reached his ears. Trudging through some more shrubbery the Toad Sage comes upon the form of his godson. The boy is sitting cross legged with his hands in his lap and it appears to Jiraiya that the boy has not noticed him yet. Now how is he going to do this…

-0-0-

Hearing the sound of stone crunching underfoot Naruto turns with a raised eyebrow to see a large man with long spiky white hair walking towards him. For some reason he gives off a comforting aura that reminds him of the old man…

"What do you want Ero-jiji?"

The man face faults mid stride. "What in the hell?"

"Well you're old…" explains Naruto as though it was the most obvious thing in the world "and I get the feeling that you're pretty perverted... Who are you anyway –ttebayo?"

'_Good instincts…'_thinks Jiraiya before jumping back onto his feet taking a kabuki stance.

"Oh so you want to know who I am? Then I'll tell you! In the lands of the Elemental Nations I am one whose name is only spoken in hushed tones and voices filled with awe! Whether in Kumo, Mizu, Suna, Iwa or Konoha you only need to speak my name to have the men huddled on the ground in fear and the women running and calling my name with lust in their eyes! I am the great Sage whose name is known throughout all the land. The manliest of the Densetsu no Sannin, the Gallant Toad Sage Jiraiya-sama!"

The silence of the forest blankets the two and the Toad Sage Jiraiya begins to sweat as Naruto stares at him with that same squinty eyed expression.

Despite his outside expression Naruto was actually very excited on the inside. While he had no idea what most of the mumbo jumble the old man had said meant it sounded like the guy was a super awesome shinobi! It was a stretch but...

"Hey Ero-sennin can you train me to be Hokage –ttebayo!" exclaims Naruto his blue eyes shining with hope.

It took every ounce of the Toad Sage's self-control to not just agree right there. "And why should someone as awesome as me train someone like you?" Jiraiya declares, a pompous look on his face, as he crosses his arms.

Instead of the loud rebuke he had been expecting Jiraiya is treated to the sight of his god son crouching on the ground as a visible aura of depression hangs around him. "That's right. You're probably some super strong shinobi who graduated the top of his class. Why would you want to train a dead last drop out like me?" says Naruto as he draws obscure images into the gravel at his feet.

Ignoring the slight stab of pain in his chest from the off handed reminder of his former best friend Jiraiya walks over and crouches down, putting his hand on the depressed boy's head "I never said I wouldn't train you brat I asked why. Why do you want to be Hokage?"

The boy looks up from his imaginary canvas to the owner of the hand resting on his head. It was a fair question. Why did he want to be Hokage? Well the old man was the Hokage and everyone respects and looks up to him… "So that everyone will acknowledge me like they do the old man –ttebayo!"

"But why, why do you want that?" Naruto turns to give the old fart a piece of his mind but sees nothing but honest concern in the old man's eyes. _'He says that he's willing to train me… so I may as well answer him…'_But that led to another problem. Why _was_ being acknowledged so important. Well that was…

"Because no one ever talks to be or even looks at me and even when they do it's like their looking at something else that's not me! I want to be seen as me and acknowledged as me, not as whatever the heck that everyone else is seeing! That's why I want to be Hokage!" Naruto proclaims loudly pointing a finger at the still crouching Toad Sage, who now had a small smile on his face.

'_Really good instincts…'_thinks Jiraiya as he rises to his impressive height. "Alright brat that's a good goal and I'll help you. But you'll have to help me."

"Eh? How could I help you?" Asks Naruto confusion evident in his eyes. After all he was only a failure academy student while this Jiraiya guy seemed to be an accomplished shinobi.

"I'll teach you how to become the Hokage but I have a very important job that takes me out of the village a lot. During that time I want you to rotate between the other jonin-sensei's and polish up on the basics so that you're ready for what I want to teach you. I'll leave you a project each to that I want you to finish before I get back but other than that make sure to focus on getting the beginner stuff down pat ok?"

"What? Why can't you just teach me some super awesome jutsu that will instantly make me Hokage?"

Sighing Jiraiya puts his hands on his godson's shoulders "Naruto I gota say, for your dream you've got the right attitude but the wrong one all at the same time."

Naruto tilts his head clearly confused "What do you mean Ero-sennin?"

'_That's not going away any time soon is it…'_Jiraiya thinks with a tick mark on the back of his head. "Brat I mean you have the right reason but the wrong way of going about it. In fact I think this will be your first project. What is the Hokage's greatest weapon?"

"His jutsu obviously!" Naruto instantly responds.

Sighing the Toad Sage rubs Naruto's hair. "That's not quite right brat. Think about it and we'll talk about it tomorrow alright? It's getting pretty late. If you can figure it out I'll get you started on a B-rank kinjutsu that I think would be perfect for you."

"Alright! Just you watch Ero-sennin I'll have this figured out in no time!" having said his piece Naruto dashes into the forest, leaving Jiraiya standing next to river with an exasperated smile on his face.

"That went better than expected. Welp time to fill Sarutobi-sensei in on those details…"

-0-0-

Naruto walks through the streets of Konoha his eyes closed in thought. His brain works harder than it ever has, repeatedly attacking the question posed to it. What is the Hokage's greatest weapon? Well the answer was his jutsu obviously but the Ero-sennin had already rejected that answer!

Contrary to the belief of the civilians, his teachers, his peers… and just about everyone in the village… Naruto was actually much more clever and intelligent than others would believe. Of course it was dampened due to how much of that mind power goes towards doing pranks in a village full of shinobi as well as Naruto's headstrong nature, but never the less Naruto was not quite as dumb as others made him out to be.

'_Ok if ninjutsu isn't the Hokage's best weapon then what is? Hmm…'_so caught up in his musings Naruto didn't notice as he unconsciously walks to the ramen stand. Realizing where he is Naruto decides to go for some ramen before he sleeps.

"Hey Teuchi-jisan!" Naruto says before noticing the stands other occupant, who is staring at the boy with noodles hanging from his mouth. "O hey Iruka-sensei how's it going!?" Naruto says with a smile.

Said man only stares with noodles hanging from his mouth as the boy he had been looking for all afternoon walks up and orders a miso ramen. After the graduation exams Iruka had truly felt bad for the yellow haired prankster, having known that the boy had truly given his all but had just fallen short. The man had looked for the boy but hadn't been able to find him, a fact that only caused the man's depression to grow. Realizing how late it was Iruka had decided to grab a quick bite to eat before going home to finish finalizing the graduates' papers. Realizing that his noodles were still hanging from his mouth Iruka quickly slurps them up before facing his former student. "H-hey Naruto-kun. Are you ok? I was looking for you earlier because I figured that you would still be upset about failing the exams…"

Naruto's smile doesn't waver. "Oh yeah I was upset at first but then this Jiraiya guy said he would train me to become to best Hokage ever!" having said his piece Naruto turns back to his ramen in the process missing the shocked look on Iruka's face.

The man coughs and pounds his chest having choked on some of the noodles he had been eating. "Jiraiya? As in Jiraiya of the Destsu no Sannin? The one who trained the Yondaime Hokage?"

This time it was Naruto's turn to choke. "What? That pervy old man trained the Yondaime!? That's awesome! I'll be taking that old man's hat in no time –ttebayo!" Naruto pumps his fist in the air.

Letting out a small sigh at Naruto's antics Iruka smiles. He truly feels joy that his former student was finally receiving the attention that he deserved as Iruka himself had been far too busy during the school year himself to help the yellow haired boy. Last year Mizuki had been ousted as a traitor and because of that the responsibility of teaching the graduating class had fell to Iruka alone. Iruka himself had been strong armed into helping the clan heirs in his class and more or less ignoring the civilian and orphan students of which included Naruto. In fact from what he could remember only two students not affiliated with any clan had passed, and the orphan one of those two only barely. Having seen Naruto's grades Iruka was sure that if someone had actually taken the time to help the hyper active boy he would have had no problems passing the graduation exam, even with his inability to perform the Bunshin.

"I'm happy for you Naruto-kun." Iruka says with a smile "If you ever need help with something don't be afraid to come to me and I'll try to assist you as best I can. I'm sorry I couldn't help you myself during this past year."

"Don't worry about it Iruka-sensei! I'll be a super kick ass shinobi in no time –ttebayo!" Naruto says as he digs into his newest bowl of ramen before suddenly stopping. "Actually there is something you could help me with now. Ero-sennin asked me something I can't figure out the answer to."

Iruka chuckles, identifying 'Ero-sennin' as Naruto's way of referring to Jiraiya. The man's perverseness was just as legendary as he was after all. "Alright Naruto-kun. What did he ask you?"

Naruto crosses his arms and squints his eyes, accentuating his fox like features. "He asked 'What is the Hokage's strongest weapon?'. I said it was his jutsu but Ero-sennin said that was wrong!"

"He was right Naruto-kun." Iruka chuckles at the incredulous look on Naruto's face.

"What? The Hokage has to be the strongest person in the village right?! So what would be more important that his jutsu!"

Iruka taps his head with his index finger "His mind Naruto. You know how Sandaime-sama seems to always have the answers to everything? A Hokage has to be both strong AND wise. Not just strong."

"Oh well I guess that means I really can't be Hokage…" Naruto says, a visible aura of depression forming above him.

"Wh-whoa Naruto-kun what's wrong?" Iruka asks not sure what he said that set his student off as well as more than a little concerned about this out of character behavior.

"You said that the Hokage's greatest weapon is his mind right? Well my mind sucks! I couldn't even graduate the academy after three tries…" Naruto says curling into a ball, his depression blanketing over him.

'_Looks like failing his exam affected him more than I thought…'_Iruka thinks, realizing that for the first time Naruto's headstrong nature had betrayed him. It was Naruto's character to never give up until the very end, evident by how the boy had stayed in the academy for six years, despite failing twice. But now that he had failed it had caused a crack in Naruto's formally unshakable confidence. Even the knowledge that he was still going to be able to become a shinobi didn't help as Naruto had still failed and now even in his own eyes he was now a failure. "Hey Naruto-kun that's not true it takes a lot of… something to do the pranks you do in the village!"

"Really?" asks Naruto peeking out from the ball he has curled himself into.

"Yeah!" Iruka says "Think about it. If you were in an enemy village those pranks could be used to do a lot of damage. It takes a pretty clever mind to set those up in a village full of shinobi. If you would only sit down every now and then and actually use that mind to tackle a situation instead of just always charging in without a plan I'm sure that you would make a splendid shinobi!"

Naruto slowly uncurls himself and smiles at his former teacher after which he drinks the rest of the broth in his bowl. "So do you really think I can be Hokage?" asks Naruto an odd look in his eyes

The man with a scar across the bridge of his nose gets up, putting enough money on the table to pay for both himself and his former student. He puts a hand on the boy's shoulder, an honest smile on his face.

"I think you can do anything you set your mind to Naruto-kun. Just remember to slow down and use that thing in between your ears every now and then."

-0-0-

Watching the interaction between Naruto and his former teacher the Sandaime smiles. "It looks like you've done a good job Jiraiya-kun. Naruto-kun looks back to his old self."

Jiraiya scowls from his seat atop the window sill, glaring at his sensei's crystal ball as he watches the smile on his godson's face drop as his lips thin to a slight frown, complete with empty eyes as the boy made his way back to his empty apartment. "Not really. I'm sure that the kid's going to be in here this time tomorrow morning shouting about how he's going to take that hat from you but I know you saw it as well as I did. His confidence took a massive hit. I really wish I had been able to be there for the kid, even more than I did before. Minato's son shouldn't have to live like this. He doesn't DESERVE to live like this."

"I'm sure you're not the only one who thinks that way Jiraiya-kun. Kakashi-kun actually dropped by and requested for Naruto to be put under his care when you aren't in the village." The Sandaime says remembering an earlier conversation with the silver haired shinobi.

"Did you give him a confirmation?" Jiraiya asks. The Sandaime shakes his head no "I was actually planning on having Naruto rotate though the jonin sensei's so he could work on his weaknesses. I'm sure Kakashi feels guilty for nothing being able to be there for the brat but for him it was a choice unlike me." Jiraiya says referring to his spy network and how it would often keep him out of the village for months at a time.

"Speaking of which how do you plan on teaching the boy? From what it sounds like with this Akatsuki group lurking in the shadows that you're going to be even busier than before."

"Well I can send him a scroll every other week once he signs the summoning contract…" Jiraiya says sheepishly looking to the side as Sarutobi tried to glare a hole into his head

"Jiraiya-kun! I thought you said you were going to spend more time with him to make up for the past twelve years!" The Sandaime admonishing his student who is looks distinctly guilty.

"It's not like I can do anything I mean it's… not… like… actually… hey sensei…"

The Sandaime face palms "No Jiraiya-kun you cannot take Naruto-kun with you when you leave the village."

Jiraiya squawks not unlike a bird "Why not? It would be perfect! I could take care of the brat and train him while keeping him safe from Akatsuki and maintaining my spy network all at the same time! Not to mention while not quite as much as you I'm getting pretty up there in my years as well. I could train Naruto to take care of my spy network! It's perfect!"

"Naruto-kun's not going to like it…" The Sandaime murmurs rubbing his head "You know his dream is to be Hokage. He can't exactly do that if he's always out of the village."

The Toad Sage waves off his teacher's concerns "Details! It's a good way to get him used to the life of a shinobi instead of the glorified crap that most academy students see it as. Plus with a certain jutsu I have in mind for him the brat will have no trouble being the Hokage as well as maintaining my spy network!"

"Oh? And what is this jutsu?" Sarutobi says with a raised eyebrow

"The Kage Bunshin!" Jiraiya exclaims "It's the perfect jutsu for him considering how he can't use the bunshin and his massive chakra reserves! The brat could take care of my spy network while he just leaves a bunshin here to take care of the paper work and why are you looking at me like that?"

Jiraiya slowly creeps away as the Sandaime's expression morphs into something between horror, disgust, anger and pure admiration. "So that is the answer…" Sarutobi whispers his voice filled with reverence "THAT IS THE ANSWER TO MY PLIGHT! NO LONGER WILL I TOIL BENEATH THE CRUEL MISTRESS THAT IS THE PAPERWORK!"

Jumping out the window Jiraiya sweat drops. He and the other Sannin had figured out the secret to paperwork many years before Orochimaru had even defected but had decided to keep it from their sensei as a joke. As a maniacal laughter filtered through the night Jiraiya thinks that it might have not been such a good idea.

-0-0-

AN: Not much to say. Basically the nail in this story is that Naruto failed his exam since Mizuki wasn't there to do his whole little shpeal. I don't think Sarutobi would let his village's Jinchuriki become a civilian so we would probably call Jiraiya back or something like that and that is the premise for this story. Favorite and follow plz. Review so I know how to improve.

Edit1: Changed the tense style to mostly present tense. I had changed it earlier but apparently the file didn't save so I went back and did it again. Thank you to Decius23


	2. Chapter 2: One month

Legacy of the Toad Sage

-12-7-2013-

AN: I own nothing

"So brat what do you got for me?" says Jiraiya as he and Naruto sit in front of that same river that he had first met with Naruto. It is the following day and Naruto was back in his orange jumpsuit

"The Hokage's greatest weapon is his mind right?" Naruto asks hesitantly

Jiraiya smiles. Even though the boy had gotten the answer from his former teacher he seemed to actually accept it. "That's right brat. I promised you a jutsu and I'll give it to you in a second but I want you to promise me something."

"Alright you got it Ero-sennin! Now what's the jutsu!?" Naruto says his eyes basically sparking

"Aright brat it's called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" as he says that Jiraiya waits for his new apprentice to start jumping around about how cool the name sounds. Instead he gets the sound of water flowing over the bedrock. Looking down he sees his godson once again drawing symbols into the gravel, a cloud of depression over his head.

"Wow a bunshin jutsu… when the reason I couldn't graduate was because of the bunshin… way to kick a man while he's down Ero-sennin."

The Toad Sage sighs, walks over and smacks his godson over the head. "Brat do you know the reason why all of your clones failed so badly?" Naruto shakes his head "It's because you were overloading them with chakra! That's why all of your clones look so sick and half dead! Don't believe me? Try to make a bunshin with as little chakra as you can."

Naruto nods, curiosity written on his face. Making the necessary seal Naruto molds as little chakra as he can into it before expelling it in a puff of smoke. The smoke clears revealing a pale copy of Naruto. Naruto blinks at his slightly pale copy. Once. Twice. A roar of triumph erupts from his throat as Naruto jumps back and points an accusing finger at his image, which while it isn't a passible bunshin, is much better than the sickly, almost dead copys that he is used to. "AHA I KNEW IT! I knew my clones kept coming out better for some reason whenever I used less chakra but those stupid assistants at the academy kept telling me I wasn't using enough chakra! HA it turns out the great Uzumaki Naruto-sama was right all along!"

'_Kids more observant then I thought when someone's not actively sabotaging him…' _Hiding a scowl as he watches his godson prance around the Toad Sage makes a mental reminder to share that little tidbit of information with his sensei. "Alright brat calm down, calm down." Jiraiya waves his godson over. "Alright so the jutsu I want to teach you is, as I said before, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and its more powerful variant the Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. There are a bunch of differences between this jutsu and the normal bunshin but I only need you to remember three. Got it?"

Naruto nods, all of his attention focused on his newest sensei "Alright the first is that the clones that this jutsu makes are solid, meaning unlike the normal bunshin, which are just illusions, these can actually interact with their environment. Second is that this jutsu is labeled a kinjutsu because it splits the chakra of the user between all of the clones equally so many people can't use it. I don't think that will be a problem for you since as far as genin go your chakra reserve is pretty massive. The last thing also has to do with that promise I want you to make with me so listen closely."

"The Kage Bunshin was a jutsu created by the Nidaime Hokage for stealth and infiltration missions. This is because anything the Kage Bunshin learns the user also learns when it dispels. Now the promise I want you to make to me is whenever we're training or your training with another sensei or even if you're bored I want you to send a clone to the library to read." Jiraiya raises a hand seeing Naruto about to protest. "I understand that it's boring but a Hokage needs to be knowledgeable and strong not just strong. Sarutobi-sensei is the longest reigning Hokag- no longest reigning Kage period. You know what one of his nicknames is? The Professor and I can promise you that he didn't get that name by being all brawn and no brain."

Naruto's eyes shine as his surrogate grandfather figure's status is elevated in his mind. While he knew the old man was awesome he didn't know that he was that awesome. "Alright Ero-sennin! Teach me that jutsu, I'll finish all the books in the village library by tomorrow -ttebayo!"

"Calm down brat" Jiraiya sighs. He had been saying that a lot this morning "You need to be careful about the memory feedback. When you get all those memories from your clones you have to be careful or you might put yourself in a coma. The rule I generally follow when I'm using the Kage Bunshin is to refresh it every three hours so that the mental feedback doesn't get too heavy. Now this is the handseal and here's how you mold the chakra..."

-0-0-

Hatake Kakashi liked to think himself a simple man. There were few things he truly valued in life. His Icha Icha, the values he inherited from his dead best friend Obito and the increasingly small amount of people that he held close to his heart. Of those people included one Uzumaki Naruto, the small ball of sunshine he had taken to after the death of his sensei. While it was too painful for the copy nin to talk to the boy up close, due to how the child looked like a chibi clone of his father (how the others in the village couldn't see that was still a mystery to the silver haired man) that didn't stop Kakashi from trying to helping the son of the man who was a father figure to him when he could, so long as direct contact was avoided. More than a couple times had Kakashi changed the milk in Naruto's fridge but most of Kakashi's contributions towards helping Naruto as the boy grew were more of the killing-Iwa-assassins-who-wanted-to-kill-the-Yellow-Flashe's-son variety.

The point was that even though he couldn't look the kid in the face, Kakashi did truly care for his surrogate father's son and so witnessing the scene before him the copy nin couldn't help but act.

"What in the hell lady why won't you let me in!" Yells a certain yellow haired prankster

The lady manning the front desk of the library, an elderly woman in her late sixties, scowls. "We don't allow _your_ _kind _in here now leave and don't return!" she says raising a hand to hit the child. The hand swings forward but stops. Wrapped around the wrist of the woman's arm is another gloved hand, belonging to one Hatake Kakashi with an eye smile that chilled the lady to the core.

"Hello there." Kakashi says, his eye still closed in a shape resembling an upside down u "I couldn't help but notice you forbidding this young man entrance to the public library, which is supposed to be open to all residents of the village. Might I inquire why?"

Naruto's eyes move between this new comer and the stingy old women who had always barred his entrance to the library. "This one's a trouble maker and I don't want any of his so called pranks happening anywhere near here." It was a hastily constructed excuse as both adults know the punishment for violating the Sandaime's Law.

"Hmm well I'm sure the boy is just here for some reading, isn't that right?" Kakashi turns his eye smile to Naruto who hastily nods. "Well then there should be no problem. Unless there is some other reason you don't want him here." Kakashi opens his eye and uses a small amount of killing intent to make sure his point is made clear.

The elderly lady scowls and takes her leave as Kakashi releases her wrist. Tomorrow rather than a stingy old lady Naruto would encounter a nice girl in her late twenties but that is neither here nor there. "Wow thanks Cyclopes-san!" Naruto says with a large grin. The man looks down and raises an eyebrow at the name but his eye crinkles in a way that shows he is smiling nonetheless.

"No problem Naruto-kun" The man says ruffling the boy's yellow hair. "I'll see you around."

Naruto watches as the man walks away. "Huh… I'm sure I never told him my name… meh whatever. Boss said to make sure to get at least a good hour of reading in today. Now let's see…" the boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper, the writing on it reminding the clone of what book he was to read.

On the paper read 'The Basics of Sealing by Namikaze Minato.'

-0-0-

Blue eyes slowly open, surveying his surroundings before the boy stands up rubbing his head. "Where in the hell am I?" he looks around and notes that he is in some sort of sewer. Despite the water coming up to his mid-thigh Naruto felt no moisture at all on his skin. There were pipes on the walls, glowing a light blue and multiple pathways. Naruto shrugs, decides to follow his feet and walks forward. Eventually the boy comes to a wide open room with a massive cage, a paper with the kanji for 'seal' seemingly holding the gate shut. Despite the whole 'Do not get closer' vibe the place smashed on Naruto with the subtly of a sledge hammer the boy couldn't help but be curious, much like how a child couldn't help but tap on the glass at the zoo.

Placing one hand on the bars Naruto waves the other around behind him "Hello!?" he yells into the cage "Is anyone there!?" for some reason the dim light that reveals the sewer does not extend to beyond the bars.

A low rumbling sound that slowly increases in intensity comes from behind the bars. Naruto vaguely recognizes it as the sound of someone yawning, magnified a good hundred times. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you up… whoever you are." Naruto says his tone sheepish and one of his hands scratching the back of his head. He knows that he would be irritated if someone woke him up by shouting in his face. "I was just wondering if you could please tell me how to get out of here. I'm kinda lost."

From the darkness appears a downward crescent of white, which slowly grows larger to reveal half of a blood red pupil with a slit pupil. As the pupil observes him, seemingly pondering something Naruto involuntarily takes a step back, simply due to the size of the eye. He could probably fit inside there with plenty of room to spare. If that was only the size of the being's eye Naruto couldn't imagine the beast that laid behind the cage.

As slowly as it opened the eye closes. A few moments pass in silence and Naruto thinks he's not getting an answer. As he turns to leave a deep voice sounds from behind him.

**"You won't an exit by simply wondering around. To get out simply think of an exit to the outside and allow yourself to be pulled."**

Naruto couldn't really understand but he feels that the being behind the cage tried to help him. "Oh, I don't really understand but thanks Mr... what was your name again?"

He receives no answer. Shrugging Naruto guesses that the being has went back to sleep. Closing his eyes Naruto tries to 'think of an exit to the outside'. Feeling a slight pull Naruto follows it.

When the boy opens his eyes he notes that he is next to the river, the same place he had fallen asleep at after learning the Kage Bunshin. Giving the equivalent of a mental shrug Naruto gets up, dusting the gravel from his backside. Naruto feels his stomach rumble and so the boy decides to go get some ramen for a mid-day lunch. As the boy makes his way back to the village in the back of his mind he can't help but wonder.

What was that place and who or what was behind that cage?

-0-0-

"This is quite troubling Jiraiya-kun." Sarutobi Hiruzen says as he and his student stand atop the Hokage tower. Said student gives his sensei a look that all but says 'well duhh'

"So my idea doesn't look to bad now does it? If you really want I can wait for Naruto to start asking questions before I tell him about the Kyubi but I still think it would be best if I just took him out of the village with me."

The Sandaime sighs closing his eyes in thought. There is no reason to keep Naruto in the village as allowing him to travel with Jiraiya would let him experience the outside world as well as let the Toad Sage keep an eye on his godson. But even still Hiruzen is weary to let his surrogate grandson leave the village at such a young age…

"Chunin. Once Naruto-kun achieves the rank of chunin you may take him." Sarutobi solemnly declares.

Jiraiya chuckles "Geez sensei you make it sound like I'm taking the brat away from the village forever…"

"I'm an old man Jiraiya-kun" Sarutobi sighs "Despite all the horrors I have been forced to commit in the name of the village as the Hokage, from turning a blind eye on Danzo and his ROOT to manipulating the innocence of a child, Naruto-kun may be the only respite I have from this world of ours."

"Sensei… I'm sure if you explain it Naruto will forgive you… the kid's got a big heart…"

"When the day comes I hope he doesn't Jiraiya-kun, I truly don't… for if he did I would never be able to forgive myself."

-0-0-

"Hey brat you still alive?" Jiraiya says as he looks down at the curled up form of his godson. The boy is holding his head with one hand and his stomach with the other. It is late in the afternoon as the sun baths the horizon in twilight. The two are a little ways out of the village.

"Uhhhhhhh! Head huuurrrrt." The boy moans, grabbing his head harder

*GROOOWWWWLLL*

"Stomach huurrrt." The boy groans, clutching his stomach tighter

*GROOOWWWWLLL*

"Need raaaameeeeen." The boy drools slightly

Jiraiya sighs "Let me guess. You forgot to refresh you clone at the library and it popped right as you were planning on getting something to eat. Because of that you've been lying on the ground for the past… four hours."

"Fuckin cloooooooone."

Sighing once again Jiraiya picks his godson up and slings the boy over his shoulder. "Alright brat let's get some grub but NOT ramen. That stuffs the reason you're so short."

"Blaaaaspheeemmmyyy"

"I'm not kidding brat. You want to grow up to be as tall as I am or you want to stay short? While ramen is good if you just eat it every day it'll get old eventually right brat?"

The boy begins to respond but pauses. A few moments pass in silence as Jiraiya makes his way back to the village. "Fine. Curse your damned logic.-ttebayo"

"Gahahaha! What did I say boy?! Not just the Hokage, but for shinobi in general their greatest weapon is their mind!"

-0-0-

"It ain't ramen but I guess it wasn't too bad -ttebayo." Naruto declares with an imperious look on his face. His new sensei stares at him with a deadpan look. They had gone to a barbecue place and as soon as the meat had finished cooking the yellow hair boy had inhaled both his portion and a good part of Jiraiya's before the Sage had even known what was happening.

"Right... anyway I figured out how I'm going to train you brat." Jiraiya says meekly eating the few bites of food that Naruto left, said boy now staring intently at the Toad Sage eager to know what awesome jutsu he would be learning next, after all that Kage Bunshin jutsu was pretty awesome.

"I'm re-teaching you everything you should have learned in the academy. We're going from the ground up."

Jiraiya hides a smug smile behind his bowl of rice as Naruto face plants into the table. That should teach the brat about eating his share of the food.

"What the hell Ero-sennin?" Naruto says, putting two hands on the table and pulling his face off "I thought you were going to teach me more super awesome jutsu!"

"That's my line brat." The Toad Sage scowls "Don't you remember what I told you about the Kage Bunshin? I'm the one that's going to have to spend hours teaching a clone while you train. Trust me, I would much rather be beating the crap out of you under the excuse of taijutsu training rather than sitting down and going through the books, but if you want to be Hokage you're going to have to know this stuff unless you plan on just being a figure head. When you're with the other jonin sensei's your just going to have to learn their area of expertise."

Naruto blinks and eases back into his seat, his eyes slightly squinted. "Huh that's right. Almost forgot about that." Naruto says, a hand on his chin. Jiraiya grunts, bring a cup of water to his mouth. "By the way I finished that book."

A spray of erupts from the Toad Sages mouth and Naruto barely avoids it by ducking under the table. "Eww. That's disgusting Ero-sennin." Naruto says joking his head out from under the table.

Pounding his chest Jiraiya coughs. "Seriously?!" He exclaims. Naruto simply nods. "The whole book?!" Naruto nods again. Taking out a notepad and pen from his pocket Jiraiya quickly scribbles something onto a piece of paper and shows it to the whiskered boy. "Alright brat what is this?"

Naruto cranes his head forward and squints his eyes more. "It looks like a storage seal with approximately three hundred cubic inches of room, a chakra to storage ratio of fourteen to one inch, three subdivisions and a maximum weight of about twenty pounds. It's designed to hold mundane objects and has no elemental protection against heat, moisture or electricity. It seems like a pretty crappy seal design if you ask me."

Jiraiya gapes. Naruto blinks and begins grumbling about how he wants some ramen. Jiraiya gapes some more. "Th-that book is over two hundred pages and you finished it in a day?!" Jiraiya squeaks

"Yeah! It was really easy anyway since it was mostly pictures. For some reason it was really easy for me to understand unlike those book in the academy! I mean who cares about things like trade agreements and alliances and…"

As Naruto begins to rant about how 'useless' the information the academy teaches is, Jiraiya is having a hard time comprehending how a twelve year old kid finished a book in half a day when that same book took him _three weeks._

"Like mother like son I suppose…" Jiraiya mumbles under his breath while Naruto continues to rant. Many people knew that the Yondaime was a seal master of unparalleled skill. What many people _didn't _know was that most of what the Yondaime knew was taught to him by his wife, Uzumaki Kushina. The reason that Uzushiogakure, Kushina and Naruto's ancestral home, had been destroyed in the Second Shinobi World War was due to the fact that Uzushio was notorious for breeding seal masters of unparalleled skill. Skill that had been passed down to Kushina, and seemingly in turn, down to her son; Naruto.

"Hm what was that Ero-sennin?" says Naruto, pausing his rant.

"Nothing brat. So do you think that you could make this seal better?"

"No way." Jiraiya's face slams against the table.

"What? Why not?"

"Well for one my hand writing is terrible." Naruto says "It would definitely distort and mess up the seal. And my chakra control isn't good enough for me to burn the seal into the paper using my chakra. I could tell you how to improve it if that's what you want."

Jiraiya nods "The method that the Yondaime used was much more efficient than actually writing down seals the way I do. I was planning on having you keep sending one clone to the library for the rest of the month to finish that book but since you already finished it I guess we can just use those clones to work on your chakra control."

"What? You want me to use the Yondaime's method? That shit is harder than genjutsu!" the precision and control required to burn the lines was insane. Not only did you have to control the length and width of the lines but also the depth, as measuring the amount of chakra you flowed through the lines. The Yondaime himself was able to control his chakra to such an extent that the victim wouldn't even feel the seal being burned into them.

"Yep. And no you can't just spam a thousand shadow to do it, I'm limiting you to five clones per day." It wasn't so much that Jiraiya was worried about Naruto not being able to handle the mental feedback so much as he was worried that the sheer amount of chakra exhaustion would cause the boy to subconsciously draw on the Kyubi's chakra.

Naruto lets out an indignant groan. "Why can't I just make my handwriting better and just do it the old fashion way like you do?"

"Brat trust me if I could I would train myself but when you get older your chakra system gets set harder in stone. It might take you two or three years to learn this method with shadow clones but it would probably take me the rest of my life. Even the Yondaime spent a good ten years perfecting this method but he didn't have the chakra reserves to just spam shadow clones like you."

Crossing his arms and huffing petulantly Naruto pouts. "I can't even do the bunshin which is apparently the simplest genjutsu. How am I supposed to do something that's even harder than that!?"

A waiter comes by and Jiraiya pays the bill. "Practice brat. Practice makes perfect. You don't think that any of the Hokages got as strong as they did overnight do you?"

-0-0-

The next day we find our chibi protagonist and his godfather at a different river. This one is much larger and the faint giggling of girls can be heard in the distance.

"Alright brat make five clones."

Naruto nods, making a cross shape with his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Multiple puffs of smoke later Naruto finds himself staring at not five but seven copies of him. "What the hell? I thought I only made five –ttebayo!"

"It's cause you put too much chakra into the jutsu dumbass!" clone one says

"Hey don't call me a dumbass!" says the original.

"You kinda are." deadpans clone number two. The other five clones nod in unison.

Naruto growls and punches two of his clones, dispelling them. "Never thought punching myself in the face could feel so good. Ok Ero-sennin how are we going to work on my chakra control?"

Jiraiya shakes his head, idly wondering if he should be worried about his godson's mental health "Alright brat. Send one of your clones to the library and I'll get the others started on some chakra control exercise."

Naruto and his clones all squawk as one "What? I thought I was done with reading!"

"HA? Just cause you read one book? Yeah no brat. You want to be the greatest Hokage ever? Well that means you're going to have to surpass all the other Hokage's in everything, and I can guarantee you that if the only thing you know how to do is beat the crap out of people your reign is going to be the shortest in the history of Kage's."

The Narutos look at each other. "I have to do physical training since I'm the original." One Naruto says backing away.

Jiraiya steps up and picks up another Naruto by the back of his shirt. "This one's coming with me to go back through the academy curriculum. I'm going to stuff four years' worth of material into your head before I leave at the end of this month." The other Naruto's wince as the one being held up begins to cry tears of blood.

The last four Narutos look at each other with intent stares, none of them willing to give any ground. Jiraiya sighs. This is going to take a while.

-0-0

Kakashi blinks as he steps into the clearing where he had tracked Naruto and Jiraiya's scent to. One Naruto is doing pushups next to the river, three more have expressions that looked a cross between constipation and when one receives an enema as they attempt to keep a leaf balanced on their forehead, their trademark goggles around their neck. One last Naruto is sitting in front of Jiraiya, a book between them and looks as though he has had his soul sucked out.

"Damn it brat are you listening to me!?"

"Huh? Yes. Warring States Period. Not even ramen is safe. Average life-span only thirty. Many die before they can even taste the food of the gods. Ends when Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara form a truce over ramen. Creates Konoha, home of Ichiraku's ramen."

"Urg… close enough I guess…"

Kakashi blinks again. The man is actually teaching the boy himself? Kakashi honestly expected the Sage to just leave Naruto some exercise to complete while h-

The one eyed man's musings are interrupted as he hears a giggle coming from the bushes a little bit to his side. Walking over Kakashi gives the man, who is looking through binoculars and nursing a small nose bleed, a deadpan stare with his one eye. "I shouldn't be surprised. I honestly shouldn't."

The man puts away his binoculars and wipes away the blood from his nose. "Don't judge me. Kage bunshin is such a wonderful jutsu isn't it?"

"I suppose. So did Sandaime-sama tell you about my request? My team is going to be one member short and I think Naruto-kun would get along with them pretty well."

Jiraiya scowls. "Kakashi my decision is final. Naruto will be rotating through the teams when I'm not here. That team would be a recipe for disaster anyway."

"What do you mean Jiraiya-sama?" asks Kakashi. One could hear the slight tone of disappointment in his voice.

"Think about it for a second. The genius prodigy, the dead last and the girl that the dead last has a crush on. Had I not spent these last three days with the brat I might not have noticed it myself."

While Jiraiya is referring to his own team, himself being the dead last, Orochimaru being the genius prodigy and Tsunade being the girl he has a crush on, to Kakashi, the Toad Sage's words are a reminder of his own team. For a moment the memory of the time he received his Sharingan flashes into his mind but instead of his old team it is replaced with the members of his would be new team. A dying Naruto, entrusting Sakura to Sasuke as tears stream down the dark haired boy's cheeks. Kakashi is unable to hide the shiver that travels down his spine.

"Yeah that was my reaction too. Don't worry too much about it. You'll get to see the brat when he cycles into your team."

Kakashi nods. "So a month huh…"

"That's when I'll have Naruto sign the Toad Contract and leave to maintain my spy network."

"Mhmm… Sandaime-sama told me that you were planning on training Naruto-kun to maintain your spy network once he becomes a chunin. Do you plan for the boy to inherit your legacy?" Kakashi says looking back at the yellow haired boy who had somehow gotten into a fight with his own clones.

Jiraya also turns, a fond smile on his lips. "Inherit my legacy… I suppose so."

**AN: And done. Yeah I initially planned for both this chapter and the last to be the prologue but I felt that it was a bit too large. Next chapter will be the date of Jiraiya's departure and when Naruto meets Team Seven. Please review so I know how to improve. Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3: Team Seven

Legacy of the Toad Sage

-12-15-2013-

Team Seven

**AN: There's another AN at the bottom but I'm putting this note up here because I feel like I bashed Sakura a little this chapter. I don't like bashing at all. Period. So any Sakura fans don't worry, she'll get better. It's just at the start of Naruto I do think she acted like a bitch when it had anything to do with Sasuke but she got better into Shippuuden and she will get better in my fic soon™. Also I own nothing.**

Two figures stand near the gates of Konoha. One is a young boy, maybe twelve or thirteen years old. His shaggy yellow hair hangs on his head and three whisker marks mar both of his cheeks. He is wearing an orange jumpsuit with blue highlights, a pair of goggles around his neck, hidden by the jumpsuit's windbreaker. His blue eyes seem to shine with life and a small smile is stretched over his face.

The other is a middle aged man, maybe in his late forties or fifties. He has two red tear like markings on his face and his spiky white hair is kept in a ponytail that goes down below his back. On his fore head is a metal plate with the kanji for 'oil' and two small horns. He is wearing a dark green gi with a bright red vest and a massive scroll is strapped to his back.

"It's been a hell of a month Ero-sennin..." the boy says, wiping the tears in his eyes.

"Geez brat." The man says putting a hand on the boy's head. "You make it sound like we're never going to see each other again. Make sure to keep up in your studies and I'll send you a scroll every week."

The boy nods as the man steps away. "Remember for the first week you'll be with Kakashi's team. If you don't hurry you'll be late. I know Kakashi won't be there but you can at least get to know your team mates."

Naruto winces slightly and turns away. "Still afraid to meet them again?" Naruto nods.

"Don't worry about it brat. Let your actions do the talking for once. Show them that just because you don't have a headband it doesn't mean you're not a proud shinobi of Konoha." Jiraiya says, compassion in his voice.

"Thanks Ero-sennin." Naruto says with a small smile.

Jiraiya growls."Keh! Go on get outa here brat!"

Watching as his god son jumps away Jiraiya shakes his head with a small smile. He walks a few steps out of the gate and a gust of wind later the man is nowhere to be seen.

-0-0-

Sasuke feels himself growing more agitated with every tick of the clock. Today was supposed to be a good day. He had finally become a shinobi and was to receive his jonin sensei. Sure his joy was dulled(killed) by being put on a team with his number one fangirl, Haruno Sakura but Sasuke was still somewhat happy because instead of the typical four man cell, his would only have three, him, his fangirl and their sensei. But that happiness quickly dwindled as the clock ticked and now the Uchiha is quite pissed.

The sound of the door being opening breaks the Uchiha from his musings. Sasuke turns to give the sensei a piece of his mind but his eyes widen in surprise when a mop of familiar yellow hair appears. "Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura? Your sensei says to meet on the roof in three minutes."

The boy promptly disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving a flabbergasted Sakura and Sasuke.

"Was... was that Naruto?!" Sakura scowls as though saying the boy's name left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Hn." The Uchiha merely grunts, his eyes narrowing. Without another word he gets up and exits the room, leaving a blinking Sakura.

-0-0-

On the outside Uchiha Sasuke is the picture of stoicism. Eyes forward, hands in his pockets and lips in a thin line. On the inside, however he was quite conflicted. When he had heard that Naruto had failed to pass the exam the Uchiha did feel some pity for the boy. While he'd never admit it, the fact that Naruto was always challenging him did push him to heights that he thought he'd never reach otherwise. Again while he would never admit it, when Naruto had failed the exam a part of Sasuke felt that he had lost a friend...

Shaking his head Sasuke clears his head of his past thoughts and dutifully marches up the stairs to meet his jonin sensei. He would get his answers soon enough.

-0-0-

Four people sit on the rooftop of the academy. Packed into one bench is Haruno Sakura, who is staring dreamily at Uchiha Sasuke, who is glaring at the one eyed man in front of them, and Uzumaki Naruto who appears to be nursing a slight headache. On the other bench Hatake Kakashi sits, a bored look in his eye as he pretends to read his Icha Icha.

"Alright well let's get started." Kakashi drawls, snapping his book shut. "From today on I'm going to be Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan's jonin sensei and will be occasionally supervising Naruto-kun, so why don't we all learn a little bit about each oth-"

"But Naruto-baka isn't even a shinobi! He failed his graduation exam!" Screeches Sakura. There is no way that she was going to let the dobe interfere with her private Sasuke time.

The one eyed man glares at the girl until she begins to shrink into herself. Kakashi knows that the fact that Naruto failed his exams were one of the things that truly could get to the boy. While the girl was right she was being a bitch about it. However turning to the yellow haired boy it seemed as though Naruto hadn't even registered what the girl had said. "Naruto-kun? Are you ok?"

Said boy looks up from rubbing his temples. "Huh? Oh yeah. Boss is just doing something stupid again, don't worry about me."

"Boss? You're a Kage Bunshin**(Shadow Clone)**?" Kakashi asks and Sasuke turns to look at the yellow haired boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah and boss decided that since Ero-sennin isn't here that it's ok for him to just spam Kage Bunshin. Don't worry about it though, just tell me when it's my turn to introduce myself."

"Erm ok... well as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted." Kakashi stops here to send another glare at Sakura, who winces "Since we're all going to be working together why we don't learn a little bit about each other? Why don't you go first Sakura-chan." Kakashi says with an eye smile.

"Uhm, could you go first sensei? So we know how to do it?"

Kakashi sighs and sends one last glare at the pink haired girl. "Alright. My name is Hatake Kakashi... I like some things... I dislike other thi-"

"Ok hell no!" Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all turn to Naruto who is now pointing an accusing finger at the one eyed man. "You already pulled that shit when I was first going around and meeting the jonin senseis! You introduce yourself properly or I'm going to leave a present at your house for when you get home tonight!"

Kakashi waves Naruto off with an eye smile "Mah mah it's not that important. We'll get to know each other properly eventually."

Naruto scowls, arms crossed over his chest. "Fine. You better watch your back once you get home Ero-cyclops!" Kakashi, Sakura and even Sasuke sweat drop at this.

"Since the lazy perv doesn't want to introduce himself" Kakashi makes an affronted noise but denies nothing "I'll show you guys how it's done -ttebayo!"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, or at least I'm a shadow clone of him! I like ramen, red bean soup, seals, the color orange and more recently reading about the history of shinobi!" This got a few raised eyebrows "My dislikes are the three minutes that it takes ramen to cook, the people in the village that look at me funny, arrogant jerkasses, and politics!" eyebrows disappear except for Sakura who is wearing her headband as a hair ornament. "My hobbies are training, gardening and pranking and my dream isn't a dream because I'll make it a reality! I will be the greatest Hokage ever! That way once the village acknowledges me I'll be able to protect them like the Yondaime did!"

Sakura dismisses Naruto, thinking that there was no way a dead last could become Hokage, and goes back to staring at Sasuke. Said duck haired Uchiha blinks. For some reason instead of the typical reaction to Naruto's usual loud mouth boast the Uchiha feels something approaching belief that the yellow haired could truly become a great Hokage. Not that Sasuke will ever admit it out loud but it is that moment that Sasuke acknowledges Naruto as a rival, the one to beat in order to surpass Itachi. Kakashi shows no outward reaction but that is due to his mask. Underneath the fabric is a small smile, the man behind it happy that the son of his sensei matured, even if it is only a small amount.

"That was a very good introduction Naruto-kun." Kakashi says, eye smiling "Alright your next Ducky."

Naruto laughs and Sasuke scowls. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have anything in particular that I like and I dislike far too many things to name. I don't have anything I could call a hobby and for once the dobe has it right. It wouldn't be right to call it a dream because it's going to become a reality. There is a certain man I will kill and after that I will rebuild my clan to its former glory."

Sakura squeals about how cool her 'Sasuke-kun' is and Naruto rolls his eyes. Kakashi shakes his head, thinking about how he would have to break Sasuke of his revenge kick.

The other occupants of the roof turn their attention to the squealing fan girl. Realizing that everyone's attention is on her the girl blushes. "Oh er I like, I mean the person I like…" she looks back at Sasuke and wriggles in her seat. "My hobbies are…" the girl once again rapes Sasuke with her eyes, the duck haired Uchiha unconsciously scooting closer to Naruto. "My dream is…" the pink haired girl eyes Sasuke one more time and squeals. Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto wince at the frequency of the squeal.

"Mmm ok then… we will be meeting at Training Ground Seven tomorrow at eight am for a field test." Kakashi deadpans, staring at Sakura as she blushes in embarrassment. Said pink haired girl blinks. "Wait, a test? I thought we already passed our graduation exams!"

Kakashi chuckles. "You mean the academy final exam? No that was only to weed out the hopeless cases." Naruto winces as does Kakashi internally. "The field test determines whether or not you actually become a genin."

Naruto's eyes widen and the silver haired man sends a slight nod in his direction. "The test will be harder than anything you have ever faced. You better not eat tomorrow morning. You'll just throw it up." With that the man disappears in a swirl of leaves

"Well I'ma go too. Later Sakura-chan, Ducky." The yellow haired boy says with a smirk before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Seeing that their meeting was over Sakura turns to Sasuke with hopeful eyes. "Hey Sasuke-kun want to go on a date?"

"No." With that Sasuke grunts, stands up and leaves Sakura the only person on the rooftop. Disappointment flashes across the girls face as she sighs.

'_O well, not like I actually expected him to say yes anyway…'_

-0-0-

Duck. Dodge. Roll. The blows rain down on him, unrelenting with no chances for retaliation. It is all he can do to simply stay on his feet.

Spin. Pivot shoulder back. Raise right arm to block follow up. His bones creak under the force of the blow, forcing him back but he does not fall.

Dodge. Rotate. Punch aimed at the lower ribs. Avoidance is not an option. Kawarimi**(Substitution)** with Kage Bunshin. Zero Kage Bunshin remaining. His adversary is back on him, his clone destroyed instantly. Had he not taken the time to learn to use the Kawarimi without hand seals he couldn't have lasted even half as long as he has.

His eyes are barely able to track his opponent, his opponent's arms and legs little more than blurs. His mind is able to react but his body is unable to keep up. A devastating kick sends him crashing into the ground.

Naruto coughs up some blood, the metallic tasting fluid warm against his chin. He feels as though he has just had his chest caved in and considering how hard his sparring partner hits it wouldn't be surprising. His vision is blurred but he is still able to see two sets of eyebrows approaching.

"My apologies Naruto-kun! Are you alright?!" a youthful voice yells. Spitting out some blood Naruto manages a grunt, accepting the offered hand.

"Yeah. Bushy Brows you don't have to apologize every time you kick the crap out of me. I knew what I signed up for when I came here today." Naruto says with a grin, wiping the blood off his chin.

"I must say Naruto-kun your youthful improvement is astounding. Only a week ago you couldn't even dodge Lee's first attack, let alone hold him off for ten minutes." Says Might Gai, an approving smile on his face. "It is hard to believe that you were unable to even graduate from the academy."

Shrugging Naruto begins to check for any broken bones. "It's not that hard to believe Super Bushy Brows-sensei. I'm more of a hand on learner and you can't get more hands on then this, unlike the academy. Besides it's not that impressive. I'm on the defensive the whole time anyway."

"Nonsense! You must not diminish your own youthful flames Naruto-kun! For a student with only a month's worth of proper taijutsu training the fact that you can keep up with Lee-kun is an achievement to be proud of! Lee-kun! You must fan your Flames of Youth so that they burn as brightly as Naruto-kun's!"

"Yes Gai-sensei! To fan my Flames of Youth I will run one thousand laps around Konoha! And if I cannot do that I will climb the Hokage monument with only one hand! And if I cannot do that I will…"

Naruto sighs and shakes his head. "You know I really think that I do better when I'm just reacting rather than the academy style. It just feels too ridged to me."

The larger spandex nods "A taijutsu style is not for everyone Naruto-kun. There is nothing wrong with simply developing your strength and speed. Now go fan your Youthful Flames alongside Lee-kun!"

Nodding the yellow haired boy goes to join his spandex wearing friend. He begins punching only to stop as an influx of information invades his mind. "Hey! Super Bushy Brows sensei. I'm going to head back a bit early today! Apparently the lazy perv is going to give me and his team some super hard test tomorrow. "

"Understood Naruto-kun! Do not allow the cool hip attitude of my eternal rival dampen your Flames of Youth!"

-0-0-

Naruto yawns as he walks through the streets of Konoha, the cool air of the night refreshing against the blisters on his hands and feet. Although he is slightly tired he isn't exhausted as he was the first time he had trained with Gai and his smaller copy. Jiraiya had decided to Gai handle his training. At first Naruto had been confused and a little sad but the Toad Sage was quick to explain that it was simply because Naruto didn't have the 'tools' to learn the Sage's taijutsu style and that he would in time. Training with Gai and Lee was meant to improve his speed and strength and it did that and more.

Arriving at Ichiraku's ramen Naruto scarfs down a few bowls of ramen. Taking a bowl to go Naruto bids farewell to Teuchi and his daughter and makes his way back to his apartment.

"I'm home…" he says to his empty apartment. It is a foolish habit from his younger years. He hoped by saying it every day eventually someone would be there to respond. But there never was.

He takes off his sandals and walks to the middle of his living room. Unwrapping the plastic he places the still warm bowl of ramen in front of him. It was a bit earlier than normal but he figures that he wouldn't have time to do it later in the week so he may as well do it now. Sitting cross legged Naruto closes his eyes and with a sensation that could only be described as 'being pulled into one's self' he opens his eyes to find himself in that same sewer, the bowl of ramen somehow floating on the water in front of him.

Picking up the ramen he begins walking. It didn't matter which direction as he had figured out before that they all somehow lead to the same place. While he still has no idea where he is, he knows now how to get here. Soon enough he arrives at his destination, the great cage that towers over him. He walks over, ignoring the voice in the back of his mind that tells him to run away. He reaches into the cage to put the bowl of ramen behind it and walks back a few steps.

"Uh… hey I'm back again. I er brought you some ramen. It's not much considering how big you are but the stuffs still pretty good. Hehe…" The being does not respond. Not surprising as it rarely would.

"… I just wanted to say thanks for just listening to me talk every now and then, it really helped to get some of that stuff off my chest you know… um I might not be able to come back here as much since I'm going to be starting doing some shinobi missions. Apparently I have some super hard test tomorrow and I figured I should tell you that I might not be able to come around as much as I used to." Over the past month he had visited the being many times. While the feeling might not be mutual Naruto would say that he thought of the being behind the cage as a friend.

"Well I guess I'll see you around?"

With that Naruto fades from the sewer. After he leaves the great red eye opens again, only slightly. It looks at the bowl of noodles before it for a few moments. There is a swishing sound and the water splashes. The ramen is no longer there, both the noodles and bowl, vanished.

-0-0-

Drying himself off after a show Naruto changes into his pajamas. Setting his alarm clock he places his sleeping cap over his head and lies down on the bed. His eyes quickly grow heavy and he feels his consciousness begin to drift off.

"**Good luck on your exam."**

He smiles.

-0-0-

It is nine am in the morning at Training Ground Seven. At the bridge two children stand while a third hides in the shadows of the tree.

"Grr where are those two!" screeches Sakura pacing around. Sasuke grunts from his position on the bridge. Time passes until the two hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Sakura turns to give Kakashi a piece of her mind but words do not come out of her mouth.

"Was this really necessary?" says Kakashi, stepping onto the bridge, his shoulders drooped and his hair wilting. Sakura and Sasuke gap while Naruto smiles from his position from under his tree.

The silver haired man's hair is painted a sky blue and his clothes a uniform orange with blue accents in a style similar to Naruto's own jumpsuit. Across his chest the word 'pervert' is written in bright pink.

Walking over Naruto grins "Told you I'd get you back."

"... I tried to use Henge**(Transformation)** but that didn't work so I tried to wash it out. It didn't work either."

"Seals are a wonderful thing aren't they?"

"... Please remove it so we can start."

Making a hand seal Naruto releases a pulse of chakra, causing the paint on the man to fade, returning him to his former glory(?). His two team mates give him an odd look but make no comment.

"Alright follow me." says Kakashi sending a small glare at Naruto who only grins in response. The group go further into the training ground until they arrive at a clearing with three tree stumps. The silver haired man talks up and pulls two lunch boxes out of somewhere, placing them on one of the stumps along with a clock. He then pulls two silver bells from his pockets.

"You have until noon to take these bells from me. Whoever doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the academy for remedial training."

"But Kakashi-sensei there are only two bells." Sakura says as both she and Sasuke notice the lack of a third bell.

Kakashi eye smiles "Well then I guess that one of you are going to get sent back to the academy."

The three children's eyes widen. _'I'm going to get one of those bells. These losers aren't going to slow me down. If Naruto can't get a bell then he doesn't deserve to be on my team.'_

'_I have to get one of those bells! I'm sure Naruto-baka won't be able to get one and Sasuke-kun will so if I can get one we'll be together! I bet if I get both bells and give one to Sasuke-kun…. Kya!'_

'_I need one of those bells. This is my chance to show Ero-sennin that the month he spent teaching me wasn't wasted! To show him that I'm not just a worthless dropout. I won't let that month he spent with me be for nothing! I WILL get a bell!'_

"And also whoever fails to get a bell will be tied to this stump and be forced to watch as the other two eat these bentos." Three stomachs rumble and Kakashi chuckles seeing the near rabid look on the genin's faces. _'Well if nothing else I can at least get some reading in.'_

"On your mark…" the silver haired man hooks the bells to his waist

"Get set…" all three genin tense, their muscles coiling

"Go."

-0-0-

'_Well their well hidden if nothing else…' _Kakashi says standing in the middle of the forest clearing. His eyes drift to the side. _'Sasuke-kun is about forty meters to my left hiding in the bushes… Sakura-chan is about fifty meters to my right, hiding in the trees and Naruto-kun…'_

"Give me one of those bells Ero-cyclops!"

'_I feel like I should be surprised but I'm really not…' _Kakashi thinks as he easily dodges Naruto's strikes. The boy had definitely improved, both in speed and agility but Naruto is only a child and technically a civilian while Kakashi is both an adult and an elite shinobi of Konoha. Kakashi grabs an overhead kick by the ankle and easily tosses the boy back with a flick of his arm.

As the boy lands, Kakashi brings his hand to his shuriken pouch. Naruto stops and tenses. _'Well at least he knows not to charge into an enemy with a weapon empty handed…'_

But Kakashi does not bring out a weapon. No he brings out the finest piece of literature ever written, a gift to all of mankind: his beloved Icha Icha.

Naruto yells, pointing a finger at the small orange book. "AHHHH THAT BOOK!"

"Ohh you know about it?" says Kakashi with an eye smile. "Are you a fan as well?"

From his tone you never would have guessed that he just asked a twelve year old boy if the he read porn. 

"Read that smut –ttebayo!? Hell no! Not only is it PORN but the plot is horrible!"

Kakashi makes an affronted noise. He understand people hating on his precious because they were too young to appreciate the smut but to also call the plot bad? That was unforgiveable! "Hey now! I understand if you're too young to appreciate fine literature but that's no reason to insult it!"

"Are you kidding me? The only thing the main character does is sleep with every women he comes across! There's like no character development!"

"… and how would you know that?"

The red starts at his face and creeps down his neck. Were his hair red he would have made a very nice tomato. His mouth opens and closes but no sounds come out. But the embarrassment quickly turns to anger "Sh-sh-SHUT UP –TTEBAYO! GIVE ME ONE OF THOSE DAMNED BELLS!"

Naruto runs up with his fist cocked back. He throws the punch but Kakashi disappears. Suddenly Naruto feels as though he can't move, no matter how much he wants to, as though a force beyond his comprehension is stopping his movements.

"This is for insulting fine literature! Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi!"

-0-0-

An interesting fact about Kage Bunshin. The smoke that signals both the appearance and disappearance of one is the result of the excess chakra used in the creation as well as the chakra dispersing once the Bunshin is destroyed. The smoke released by the destruction by the Kage Bunshin is the result of the chakra remaining in the clone after it is dispersed, an act that is the result of the clone no longer having enough chakra to maintain its form.

However if one were to pack enough chakra into the clone it could act as an improvised smoke screen.

-0-0-

Kakashi's attack sends the clone flying into the air but his eye widens as the clone in front of him explodes into a massive amount of smoke, obscuring his vision. There is a sound of something emerging from water, accompanied by multiple popping sounds. His senses blaring Kakashi is barely able to catch a punch aimed at his ribs. A snap kick and his attacker disperses into smoke, adding to the smoke screen blocking his vision. But his vision is the only thing it blocks. The sounds of multiple steps moving towards him reaches his ears and the copy nin meets his attackers with gusto, the smoke surrounding him doing nothing to weaken his formidable might.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number one! Taijutsu!"

A punch disperses one of his attackers and a kick another. Ducking under a kick Kakashi grabs the boy's ankle and throws him into another one of his clones, causing both of them to pop. Spinning his leg lashes out, catching another clone in the chest and knocking it into another, the two disappearing into smoke. A fist buries itself into Kakashi's left ribs but the man barrels through the pain and elbows his attacker in the face, popping them.

'_Not bad… but what are you going to do now…' _Kakashi thinks his body tense and his ribs aching slightly. The boy might be relatively small but he did pack a punch. Unable to see he almost misses it. Had he been another jonin he wouldn't have been able to react fast enough. But he was Hatake fucking Kakashi, student of the Yondaime and the sole surviving member of Team Minato.

So when a faint chime sounds from his waist Kakashi's eye widen and he instantly lashes out with a punch. Feeling his fist connect Kakashi leaps into the air in order to get out of the smoke.

'_I didn't even hear him approaching!' _The boy flies out of the smoke, propelled by the force of the Copy nin's punch. He flips, regaining his footing and makes a cross shaped symbol with his hands.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" a line of orange appears. Every other boy grabs the one next to them.

"Henge!" There is now a row of yellow haired children, each with a metal shuriken half as big as they are. Suddenly Kakashi feels very conscious of the fact that he is in midair and therefor unable to dodge.

The shuriken fly and Kakashi reaches out with his chakra for a kawarimi. With a quick prayer to the holy log his footing become solid. However the obscure writing on the ground that he just _happened _to land in the center of makes him very nervous. It is a spiral surrounded by a circle, four lines branching out at equal intervals along the circles circumference.

"Shisho Fuin Model: Baindo! (**Four Symbol Seal Model: Bind.**)" The seal lights up, trailing to four identical yellow haired boys' who are standing some distance away, the writing on the seal extending to each of their positions. Kakashi feels himself unable to move. Rather than a physical force restraining him it feels as though his muscles are simply not responding.

"Give me one of those damned bells -ttebayo!" Naruto yells running up from behind the jonin, his hands making the tiger seal.

"Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi!"

Naruto grins, feeling his attack connect. Time seems to stand still as the silver haired man's visible eye bulges out of his head. However it restarts as the man disappears in a poof of smoke.

"Damnit, I was sure I had him…"

-0-0-

"That… was too close…" Kakashi huffs, hiding behind a tree. At the last second he had been able to create a Kage Bunshin and kawarimi with it before his own technique had been used against him. While he has physically gotten away scot free the memory of someone sticking their fingers up his butt is one that Kakashi is sure that will show up again in his nightmares.

"Well time to test Sakura-chan…"

-0-0-

"Shinobi fighting lesson number two, genjutsu…" Says Kakashi with a disappointed tone, looking at the downed form of the so called 'most talented kunoichi' in the academy. He had snuck up behind her and put her in a simple genjutsu, not even a D-rank. She had proceeded to nearly rupture his eardrums and faint.

'_Well…_' he muses _'onto the next?'_

-0-0-

"I'm not like those losers." Sasuke declares taking a stance in front Kakashi. The silver man chuckles.

"That remains to be seen. You might not have been able to see it since you were hiding in the bushes but Naruto-kun was able to touch a bell. Can you do the same?"

The raven hair boy throws three shuriken at the man but he easily dodges them. One of the shuriken fly low and cut a trip wire. Kakashi jumps back again to avoid a flurry of blade, which sink deep into a nearby tree. As the silver haired man slides back Sasuke disappears in a burst of speed and appears just behind him. The Uchiha spins and sends a kick at Kakashi's head.

The man easily catches the boy's heel on the metal plate of his glove _'He's faster than Naruto-kun… but weaker as well…'_

Kakashi grabs Sasuke's ankle with his other hand and the raven haired boy twists his body, sending a punch at Kakashi, which he catches with his other hand.

Twisting his body further Sasuke throws a kick at Kakashi's head and Kakashi simply blocks it in between his forearms. The boy smirks and grabs at the bells but is instantly thrown back, Kakashi jumping back as well to further distance between them.

"Hm. Had Naruto-kun not given me a decent warm up you _might_ have been able to _touch _the bells. Ah well." Says Kakashi, his tone taunting. The Uchiha scowls and speeds through three hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyu!**(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**"

-0-0-

Sasuke smirks, seeing his jutsu connect. While the man had said that they needed to get a bell he never said they had to be in good condition. However when the smoke clears there is nothing but scorched earth.

'_He's gone!' _Sasuke whirls around. _'In the air?'_

There is nothing but blue eyes and clouds. _'No, on the side? Where could he be?'_

"Below. Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Double Suicide**" His eyes widen as a hand bursts from the ground and latches onto his ankle before pulling him into the ground. With only his neck and head sticking out above the ground, Sasuke can only glare as Kakashi crouches in front of him.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number three. Ninjutsu... well you're already way farther with this than the others…"

The man eye smiles before the glaring Uchiha who is trying to set the man on fire with his glare. Pity he wouldn't be able to do that for a couple more years. A hand pats the boy on his head only adding to his impotent rage.

"Better luck next time."

-0-0-

A lone bell lies on the ground next to a tree in a clearing in the training ground. Standing a few feet away are three identical yellow haired boys.

"So… you should go pick it up." One of them says to another.

"Hey why don't you go pick it up!" he retorts angrily.

"Because it's obviously trapped dumbass." Says the third boy. The three return to staring at the bell.

"Well one of you two should go pick it up." One of the boys say, stepping back, his arms crossed over his chest.

The other two glare at him. "What!? Why do we have to do it?"

"Because I'm the original. If it's trapped then you guys will just get popped but if I get caught in it we're in serious trouble."

The two bunshin grumble as they become resign to their fate. A few moments later one is hanging upside down by its ankle while the other futilely tries to climb out of the hole it had fallen into. Naruto nods with a satisfied smile on his face and strides across the field to claim his prize. However he stops half way there and frowns.

"Come out Ero-cyclops, I know you're there."

Almost on queue the silver haired man steps out from behind the tree, the two bells hooked to his waist jiggling and his hands in his pockets. "Not bad. I honestly thought I had you there. How did you notice?" The image of the bell on the ground flickers before disappearing, revealing itself to be an illusion.

A grin stretches over Naruto's face. "I didn't."

Kakashi blinks, before chuckling. "Clever boy. What are you going to do now? You have ten minutes to get a bell and Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan are preoccupied at the moment."

"I didn't want to do this because this was supposed to be a training exercise." Says Naruto with a frown as he takes off his bulky orange jacket.

"But I really do need one of those bells."

The piece of clothing drops to the ground with a crash and the yellow haired boy disappears in a burst of speed. Instinctively bringing up his arms Kakashi barely manages to stop Naruto's initial strike. Punches and kicks follow and Kakashi feels himself actually being forced back.

"Not bad Naruto-kun but not good enough!" he returns the strikes in rapid succession. The boy manages to dodge the strikes, Naruto's speed easily doubling without his weighted jacket, and grabs the man's arm, trying to throw him but the man doesn't budge. Anchoring himself to the ground Kakashi reverses the grab and throws Naruto back.

Naruto quickly regains his footing and forms what is quickly becoming his favorite hand seal. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Mass Shadow Clone technique)**!"

A sea of bunshin surrounds Kakashi but the masked man only grunts. "Come now Naruto-kun. The thing again?"

A voice shouts from somewhere in the army of clones. "If brute force doesn't work you're not using enough of it –ttebayo!"

With that the clones charge on the silver haired man. "And sometimes brute force isn't enough!" he says before beginning to devastate the clone army. While they were faster and more numerous it still is not enough to stop Kakashi.

Three clones attack him and once and Kakashi, having no room to maneuver, is forced to defend. His hands catch the ankle of two kicks, his leg blocking a punch. The two clones whose kicks Kakashi had blocked, spin in a maneuver similar to Sasuke, sending two punches at his head from opposite sides. Kakashi tries to jump back but finds his leg stuck, the clone whose punch he had blocked now has his leg in a bear hug and he see the slight glow of chakra at the clones feet. He leans back, barely dodging the punches but the clones clasp each other's hand and hammer him into the ground. The clones jump to try to immobilize his arms but Kakashi manages to catch one with a punch, dispersing it, and tries to throw the other only for it to stick firm to his arm. His arm and leg occupied the other clones charge in, piling on top of the copy nin, one of them slapping a tag onto the man's chest. Overpowering the clones Kakashi bursts free from the pile of clones, four still hanging on to his arms and legs while the others are send flying back.

"Chance!" Kakashi cranes his neck to look towards the direction of the voice to see, what he is sure, is the original Naruto. He is crouched, his arms are crossed and his palms facing outward. For a second Kakashi doesn't recognize it due to the lack of green spandex but when he does his eye widens.

"KAIMON**(Gate of Openning)**!" The boy bursts forward, even faster than before and Kakashi loses sight of the boy's movement, not expecting the boy to become so much faster. A kick snaps his head up and sends him flying into the air. He hovers in the air, momentarily stunned, and Naruto appears in front of him with a smirk.

"Ura Kage Buyo **(Reverse Shadow of the Dancing Leaf)**."

The boy creates a cross with his fingers and then brings both of his arms back. "Uzumaki Naruto Nisen Rendan **(Naruto Uzumaki Two Thousand Combo.)**!

Behind the boy hundreds of clones form, all with both of their arms cocked back. Kakashi tries to form chakra for a kawarimi but the chakra is just drawn towards the seal on his chest and dispersed. Starting with the original they all pummel the silver haired man, sending him flying down to the ground with a thunderous crash, the original Naruto following not soon after, the thousand clones in the air disappearing.

"Heh… let's see you… get up after that…" Naruto pants, his left on one knee and his other clentched, his arms and legs feeling like jelly. He quickly pales as the dust clears and Kakashi strides out, roughed up but no worse for wear, the tag that was on his chest fluttering in the wind behind him.

"Not bad… but not quite good enough if you want to take someone of my level down." He says standing in front of the boy.

"Wasn't… trying to…" pants Naruto before he falls forward, no longer able to stay conscious. The alarm rings and Naruto's hand opens to reveal a shining silver bell.

Kakashi leans down and picks the bell from Naruto's hand and reattaches it to his waist. Lifting the boy up, Kakashi carries him on his back and begins walking back towards the stumps in the middle of the training ground. His eye is curved like an upside down U and if one could see under his mask they would see a truly proud smile.

'_Good job… Naruto-kun.'_

-0-0-

"So what's going to happen to us?" fearfully asks Sakura. The four were lounging at the logs, Kakashi leaning against one of the logs, reading his Icha Icha and Sakura sitting seiza in front of the masked man. Not far away Naruto was sleeping peacefully and Sasuke is staring at the boy with an odd expression on his face.

Kakashi glances at the girl dismissively before returning to his book. _'I had initially planned to give them this test after they failed… but I suppose this works just as well.'_

The moment of truth arrives as Naruto stirs. With great effort he manages to push himself up. "Uhg… what happened?"

Taking out a Konoha forehead protector with black cloth from his pouch Kakashi tosses it to Naruto. "Congratulations Naruto-kun. You passed."

The boy catches the headband and jumps up. "What! Really?! I'm finally a shinobi –ttebayo!" he shouts jumping up and down, as though he wasn't just unconscious and drooling into the ground.

"I wouldn't be celebrating just yet." Kakashi says, stopping Naruto in his tracks. "As I'm sure you can figure out Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan failed and will be sent back to the academy for remedial training." Both of said genin flinch as though physically struck.

"But I am willing to give the both of you another chance… if Naruto-kun gives back his headband."

All of the children's' breath hitch. "If he returns the headband I will test all three of you again, and if you get both bells I will pass all three of you. But if you can't Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan will be sent back to the academy for remedial training and Naruto-kun will be forbidden from becoming a shinobi."

His spiky hair shadows his eyes as he stares at the metal plate and black cloth, clenched in his hand. He cannot see the pleading look on Sakura's face or the conflicted look on Sasuke's.

"I'll give you a few minutes to think about it." Kakashi turns around but stops as he feels something hit his back and clatter to the ground. Glancing down he sees the headband he had given Naruto. Turning around he meets the boy's. "Are you sure about this Naruto-kun? If you fail you'll never be able to become Hokage. You'll be betting your dream on these failures."

Fire burns in his blue orbs. "I won't abandon my comrades just because we might fail."

Kakashi matches Naruto's glare before nodding. "Very well. On my m-"

"No."

Naruto's eyes widen as Sasuke calmly stands up and picks up the fallen headband. "Me and Sakura-san failed because we got complacent and didn't prepare this past month like you did. You might be trying to hide it but I saw what you did at the end of your fight with Kakashi-sensei. Your muscles are shredded and you shouldn't even be standing. If we were to fight Kakashi-sensei again you would barely be more then deadweight."

Walking over he all but shoves the headband into Naruto's arms. "I'm not letting you put your future on the line just to give me a second chance."

Finally finding her voice Sakura stands up as well. "That's right!" unshed tears are building in her eyes. "What you did was amazing and I can't even imagine what you put yourself through this past month to be able to do that. I really appreciate that you want to give me and Sasuke-kun a second chance but if we fail it will be over for you! I can always try again next year but you can't. If we fail…"

"Then we won't fail!" Naruto yells clenching his fists. "I was able to get one of the bells myself! I'm sure if we all work together-"

"Damnit dobe!" roars Sasuke lunging at Naruto, grabbing the boy by his shirt and bringing him close. Naruto and Sakura's eyes widen, seeing the usually calm Uchiha lose his composure "We would still fail! I hate to admit it but right now you're on another level compared to the rest of us but it still took everything you had just to get one of the bells. As tired as you are now even if we worked together we wouldn't stand a chance! Now will you take this willingly or am I going to have to shove it down your throat?!"

Naruto glares right back at Sasuke. "I won't leave my comrades behind." He states with conviction. The two rivals glare at each other, the atmosphere so tense you could cut it with a knife…

… Which is exactly what Kakashi does as he begins to clap slowly. Three heads turn to him and his visible eye curves into an upside down U. "Well it seems that you all can't come to an agreement so let me do it for you. Congratulations, you pass." 

The three genin blink once. Twice. Sakura sums up their thoughts pretty well with a single word.

"What?"

The silver haired man motions for them to follow him. When Sasuke releases Naruto he stumbles and Sasuke slips an arm under Naruto's arm.

"I can walk on my own teme."

"Hn."

Kakashi leads them to the stone just behind the stumps. He places a hand on it, stepping behind it. "Look at this. The numerous names carved on this stone."

"… the Konoha memorial stone…" solemnly says Naruto.

"That's right." Kakashi nods "On this stone the names of numerous shinobi who have died in the line of duty are carved. These are shinobi who gave their lives to complete missions of grave importance to Konoha. My best friend's name is on here."

"In the Shinobi world missions are the lifeblood of the shinobi villages. We live by very strict rules to make sure to complete these missions. A Shinobi must see underneath the underneath and it goes without saying but in the Shinobi world those who break the rules and codes that we live by are considered trash."

Kakashi turns making sure to make eye contact with each of his future students. "That may be true but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash." He moves from behind the stone to behind pacing around Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

"That was the purpose of this test, the bell test, used by both the Yondaime and Sandaime. To teach genin to put aside their differences and work together for the good of the team. To teach that the whole is more important than the one. That is specifically why three genin fresh from the academy are matched up against a jonin, an elite shinobi of Konoha. To force the genin to work together against supposedly unbeatable odds." Kakashi stops in front of the genin and sends an eye smile at Naruto who chuckles sheepishly and scratches his cheek.

"That ends the training! Starting tomorrow Team 7 will begin its duties!"

-0-0-

**AN: I had meant to get this out yesterday but I also meant for it to only be 5k words. I wrote like 4k words of it and decided I didn't like it, deleted half of it and it turned into this monster over the course of two days, lol. I'm putting up a poll on my profile because I honestly think I could work it into this fic and actually make it make sense. It's whether or not I should genderbend Sasuke. 'He' would act like a boy until the 'reveal' and I actually think I can make a reason that would make sense. I kind of want to do this because I really don't think I've seen a fic where there is a genderbent Sasuke that actually acts like Sasuke. If yes then yeah I'll try to make it make sense and if no then it will just be a ton of Ho-yay. Cause it wouldn't be Naruto without it. It'll be a blind poll and I'll take it down the chapter before the 'reveal' so to speak. Anyway favorite, follow and review so I know how to improve! Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4: Training

Legacy of the Toad Sage

-12-30-2013-

Training

**AN:I own nothing.**

"Wow I didn't expect the brat to actually get a bell. Gai did work with the kid's taijutsu."

"Have faith in your pupil, Jiraiya-kun. Naruto-kun could do amazing things if he would only put his mind to it."

In the Hokage Office Jiraiya watches the end of the bell test through his sensei's crystal ball with a smile on his face and a sense of growing pride in his chest. Naruto had worked so hard every day this past month and it felt good to see the boy be rewarded for his efforts.

"Will you be heading out now Jiraiya-kun?" It was unexpected when Jiraiya had suddenly arrived, asking if they could watch Naruto's test together but it was an enjoyable experience if nothing else.

"Not yet. Just one last thing." He takes out a scroll from his vest and unfurls it on the table. "While it was nice getting to watch the brat, that's not quite why I came back. I knew he could pass all on his own anyway." There is no small amount of pride in the Toad Sage's voice as he speaks of his god son.

"Then what is it?"

"I found this a little ways out of the road."

He channels a small amount of chakra into the scroll and with a puff of smoke its contents are unsealed. On the parchment lies a severed hand, completely shriveled up as though one had sucked all the moisture out of it. A chain is tattooed onto the skin by pitch black chakra that slowly fades. The two men can feel it. The pure malice and hatred emanating from tattoo burned into the skin.

Sarutobi narrows his eyes. "That's the third one we've found this year."

"Yeah. Even fewer than we found last year but it's the biggest one yet."

With another application of chakra the contents of the seal are back in their storage. Rolling it back up Jiraiya makes to leave. "I'll drop this off before I leave. Got to make sure to tell Ibiki."

"We found another piece of Mizuki."

-0-0-

"This color band doesn't really work with the rest of my clothes…" Naruto says sitting atop one of the stumps in the center of Training Ground Seven as he looks at the black fabric connected to his Konoha headband. It is the next day and he as well as his team are waiting for their sensei.

"Hn." Sasuke grunts leaning on the stump next to Naruto's while Sakura stared at him.

"So what color should I change it to? Red? Yellow? Orange?"

Sasuke turns to Naruto with a flat look. "Of those choices one of them wouldn't make you look like a clown and even that's depending on the shade."

"Which one? Yellow? Orange? It's orange isn't it –ttebayo!?"

He would face palm but he is an Uchiha and Uchiha do not palm their faces. "Idiot."

Inwardly the raven haired boy muses how odd it is that Naruto seems to be less annoying than he was back in the academy. For the most part the yellow haired boy acted the same but at the same time it just didn't annoy him as much as it did back then.

"So what have you been doing this past month?"

Blinking for a second at the question Sasuke takes a second to come up with an answer. "Training. You?"

"Yeah I was training too except a couple of days…" a visible shiver runs up Naruto's spine and he blushes slightly. "Freaken Ero-sennin…"

Sasuke's eyebrow raises. "Sennin? How do you know a sage?"

His lips twist into a scowl and Naruto crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah apparently this guy's helping me because he knew my parents but he's a massive perv. Did you know that he wrote that super smutty book that Ero-cyclops always reads?"

"I don't see what you have against the book. Who cares if it has smut as long as the plot and characters are decent."

Sasuke's eyes widen as Kakashi appears in a puff of smoke behind him and wraps him up in a hug. "Finally someone who understands!" the man says, tears running down his visible eye. It had been so long since someone had understood the magnificence of Jiraiya-sama's books!

"Get off me!"

Minutes later after Naruto and Sakura have managed to rescue Sasuke from Kakashi's embrace the four are seated to discuss their plans for the day, Sasuke making sure that Naruto is in between him and the masked shinobi.

"Normally after becoming genin the team does D-rank missions to familiarize themselves with the village and then move onto C-ranks when the jonin sensei feels they are prepared. But I get the feeling that if I did that then Naruto-kun is just going to make a Kage Bunshin and go goof off."

The boy nods with no shame whatsoever. Why should he do something boring if he can just have a clone do it for him?

"-and Sasuke-kun would rather train."

"Hn."

"-and Sakura-chan…" the man trails off looking towards the kunoichi of the team.

"Ah I'm fine with whatever Sasuke-kun wants to do!" she says waving her hands in front of her.

Kakashi nods. "Ok. I think today we'll do some training exercises and maybe do some missions in the afternoon if you all still have energy. Naruto-kun do you know how to do tree walking?"

"Yeah Ero-sennin taught me it after I was able to do the leaf balancing."

"Do you have anything to do while I teach Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan or would you like me to give you a scroll with a jutsu?"

"Really? Thanks Ero-sensei!"

'_Well at least it's a step up from Ero-cyclops…' _He thinks with a sweat drop taking out a scroll from his pouch. "This is an A-rank ninjutsu created by the Sandaime himself. It's based off the Kage Bunshin so you shouldn't have too much trouble with it."

The scroll is instantly disappears from his hand as Naruto runs off, jumping in joy…

"Just you watch Ero-sensei I'll have this jutsu mastered in no-"

… before he falls flat on his face.

"Naruto-kun you ok?"

The boy manages to lift a shaky thumbs up. "My muscle control might be a bit messed up from using the gates yesterday -ttebayo."

Kakashi nods. "Ok Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan come with me and we'll get started on the tree walking exercise."

As the three walk off Naruto, with great effort, rolls onto his back. Holding the scroll up in front of him he unfurls it and begins reading.

-0-0-

"The basic idea of this exercise is simple." Kakashi says, standing in front of Sasuke and Sakura.

"You want to channel chakra to your feet to stick to the tree, like this." He forms a ram seal and walks to the tree. He places one leg on it and continues to scale the tree until he stands a good five meters above them.

"Too much the bark will shatter. Too little and you'll slip."

"What's the point of this training Kakashi-sensei?" while she could see how being able to walk on vertical surfaces would be useful she didn't see the point of this training.

"First it teaches you chakra control." He drawls with a flat look. "To bring out the proper amount to the proper area. That's what this exercise is supposed to teach you."

"The amount needed to stick to the tree is small, but the feet are the hardest part of the body to channel chakra to. Theoretically if you were able to master this you could master any jutsu."

"Second is to develop the stamina needed to control chakra properly. The more complex a jutsu, the more control you need in order to use it to its maximum potential. Take for example Naruto-kun's Kage Bunshin."

"You see the smoke that forms when they are created? That's excess chakra that he's wasting because he doesn't have the control to use the exact amount of chakra needed to create a clone."

"This applies to all jutsu in general and not just the Kage Bunshin. Hand seals are basically means of assisting shinobi in shaping their chakra. Theoretically with perfect chakra control or is one is familiar enough with it, they could use that jutsu with no hand seals or preparation time."

"There are exceptions of course. Some jutsu require pure chakra control to form and others you simply dump as much chakra into the jutsu as you can. But those jutsu are few in number and their secrets are closely guarded by their creators."

"You won't learn anything by me just talking all day. The best way to learn is by experiencing it for yourself." Two kunai impale the ground in front of the genin.

"Use these kunai to mark how high you make it up the tree. Then use that mark as your goal and try to surpass it. You probably won't be good enough to just walk up the tree first so take a running start."

He jumps off the tree and takes out his Icha Icha to begin reading. Sasuke takes a running start, getting four meters up the tree before it the bark under his feet explodes. The kunai slashes a mark just above the blasted bark and he flips, landing in a crouch.

"Hey this is pretty easy!"

Both Sasuke and Kakashi look up and see Sakura sitting on a branch about ten meters off the ground, her legs handing off the branch.

"Very impressive Sakura-chan." Kakashi's eye drifts towards Sasuke. "Perhaps the Uchiha weren't so elite after all." He drawls in a mocking tone.

The raven haired boy _growls_ and turns back towards his tree. _'Damn you Kakashi-sensei! Now Sasuke-kun hates me!' _Sakura thinks, glaring at the one eyed man. He shrugs and goes back to his reading.

She walks down the tree and pants, slightly out of breath. "What should I do now Kakashi-sensei?"

From behind his book Kakashi glances at her. "While you have exceptional chakra control your stamina is fairly low and your chakra pool rather small. Try to go up and down the tree ten times to improve them. If you can't then rest and try again."

She nods and goes back to her tree. Another loud crack and Kakashi sees Sasuke return to the earth, a slash on the tree just centimeters above the last. He turns his head to see Naruto slowly going through hand seals, still lying on the ground.

It is moderately cool with a slight breeze, the sun's harsh rays dampened by the overhead clouds. All is nice and peaceful…

"Oh Aiko-chan you naughty naughty girl. Huhuhuhu."

-0-0-

"Train me!" shouts a small child with brown hair and an oversized scarf as he chases a yellow haired boy clad in orange as they run through the streets of Konoha.

"Damnit –ttebayo, I'm only a genin! Why don't you just go ask that elite tutor of yours!?" the boy shouts back. If this was how he acted in the academy he wasn't sure that he could blame those instructors for not wanting to teach him back in the day.

The day started so well. After waking up, boss had created a clone to go register his shinobi id as well as pull a prank on Hokage-jiji. Nothing big, just a small harmless joke that he had come up with after Ero-sennin had told him about his own female team mate. The old man would probably appreciate it from what Naruto could tell! What with that book he tries to hide in his desk…

-0-0-

In 'his' office, Sarutobi Hiruzen the God of Shinobi and Sandaime of Konohagakure is mad. No furious is a better word to describe the white hot rage that burns inside 'him'. It had been the start of a good day. Getting in early 'he' had created some Kage Bunshin in order to take care of the massive smile of paperwork that seemed to have somehow grown overnight. Only a few minutes afterwards 'his' surrogate grandson had come in with 'his' shinobi registration. A quick hug and the boy had been about to leave when 'his' actual grandson, Konohamaru, had burst in, loudly claiming that he would defeat his grandfather and become Hokage.

He had then proceeded to trip over his scarf and smash face first into the floor. Getting up he immediately blamed Naruto, and Naruto being Naruto had loudly protested, hitting the brat over the head and telling him that he was going to be the next Hokage.

After that Naruto had left saying something along the lines of 'boss said to go to the library…', Konohamaru immediately giving chase for some reason or another. But the second Naruto had stepped foot out of the Hokage tower a puff of smoke had enveloped Hiruzen, leaving 'him' in 'his' current predicament.

The door creaks open and 'his' secretary pokes her head in. "Um Hokage-sama you have a ten o clock appointment fo- Hokage-sama!" she yells her eyes widening seeing the person behind the desk.

At the desk a beautiful young lady sits, her long dark brown hair in two pigtails. The Hokage robes hang loose on her curvy frame and rather large breasts strain against the male robes. Her skin is light and flawless, the conical Hokage hat sitting on the desk in front of her. Two bangs frame her face and her eyes are hidden by said hair. Two lines run vertical under the outer corners of her eyes, distinct facial markings that belong to only one person in all of Konoha. Her fists lay on the desk, visibly trembling in rage.

The brat had somehow applied his Oiroke no Jutsu on to 'him'

"**NAAAAAAAAAAAARRRUUUUUUUU-**

-0-0-

**-UUUUUTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

Yep that is definitely appreciation the clone thinks. Not anger the likes of which only a male could understand but appreciation for a good joke. However with his slight lapse of concentration his pursuer is able to catch up.

"Stop following me! I need to go to the library so I can become the best Hokage ever!" the clone shouts at the shorter boy. Really why couldn't the brat just take a hint.

"No way! For this past month gramps has been going on and on about how you're going to be an awesome Hokage when you're old enough to inherit the title. But I need to become Hokage first so you're going to teach me!" The boy yells pointing a finger at the clone.

The clone who will now be referred to as Naruto scowled. "Why would a brat like you want to become Hokage? You wouldn't even be able to protect yourself, let alone the village."

"I need to become Hokage so that people will start seeing me as me instead of the 'honorable grandson of the Sandaime'. I couldn't care less about protecting the idiots in the village!"

Anger flares in Naruto's eyes and he hits the boy over the head again. "Brat that's not the right reason to want to become Hokage!"

"Yeah, well what is it then!?" Konohamaru yells back

Naruto's face shifts into a more neutral expression, his eyes squinted. Konohamaru shifts uncomfortably.

"Alright brat follow me."

-0-0-

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

His chakra shapes and forms but does not release. It instead harmlessly dissipates into the air.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

His fingers fumble through the hand seals. Normally he would instantly go to start practicing the jutsu but the scroll said that if he couldn't make the hand seals fast enough it would reduce the effectiveness of the jutsu.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

While he had practiced many things with Ero-sennin during the month he spent training, hand seals were not one of the things they practiced. Probably because it was something he could easily do on his own.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

This is so booooorrrring. He would rather create a clone to just do this for him but he was limited to three clones per day for non-combat purposes when Ero-sennin was out of the village. Naruto didn't want to accidently go over his limit or the Ero-sennin would find out. The Ero-sennin ALWAYS found out.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

He shifts his legs slightly, and winces at the slight pain, his shredded muscles slowly regenerating. Since he had learned to use the gates(he could only open two) there had only been one time before when he had used them and that was to get away from Anko after they had gotten into a fight over a very important matter. It didn't help that Ero-sennin had tied him up afterwards and had the women teach him the bird and the bees while reading from his latest book.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger.

He closes his eyes and slows his breathing to calm himself down. The heat drains from his face, and the memories of bad touches disappear.

Ram. Rat. Bird. Boar. Tiger. Duck.

Wait. Duck?

"What do you want Sasuke?" he says to the duck haired boy staring down at him with an odd look on his face.

The Uchiha turns his head to the side and a blush forms on his cheeks. "You know how to do the tree climbing exercise right?"

He stretches from his position on the ground and shifts his hands to under his head. They were slightly sore from spending so much time practicing the hand seals. "That's right."

An awkward silence. The look on Sasuke's face could now be described as one tasting something extremely foul that they knew they would have to finish. "Could you… Could you give me some tips?"

"Sure."

He blinks owlishly. "Huh?"

"I said sure. What? Did you expect me to make fun of you or something?"

"Uh… actually yeah."

Naruto shrugs and jumps to his feet. "Well I probably wouldn't have been able to get it myself if it wasn't for Ero-sennin helping me so it would be hypocritical for me to make fun of you for having trouble."

The two walk over to the tree where multiple slash marks are visible, the highest one being seven meters from the ground. "Ok show me what you're doing."

Sasuke nods, focusing chakra to his feet. He dashes forward, his feet sticking to and peeling off the tree perfectly. Just under seven meters his footing slips and he falls, not before he marks his progress just above the last cut. He lands in a crouch next to Naruto.

"Well I'm not sure what to tell you. You're doing a lot better than I did at first. -ttebayo" Naruto's arms are crossed as he looks up at Sasuke's progress. "But… it looks like you're thinking about something else while you're doing this."

"Tch." Sasuke looks away. Whatever it is he obviously doesn't want to share.

"I won't ask… but it would be better if you cleared your mind. Chakra uses physical and spiritual energy so if your emotions are restless your control won't be as good."

He nods and stands up, making the ram seal. This time he makes it a full meter above his last mark. When he falls there is a smile on his face. Naruto nods and turns to leave but stops.

"Hey Sasuke… you don't have to tell me if you don't want… but if you ever need someone to talk to I'll be there."

Sasuke scoffs. "Why would you care?"

He turns and gives the raven haired boy the nice guy pose, complete with pinging teeth. "Because I want to be Hokage!"

-0-0-

"Uwaahhh!" Konohamaru says as he steps across the Hokage Monument and stares at the village below. It is the afternoon as the sinking sun bathes the village in twilight, giving it a sort of ephemeral beauty.

"It's pretty amazing isn't it?" the boy turns to see Naruto standing next to him, his blue eyes open and gazing at the village. A soft smile is on his face and a slight breeze ruffles his hair

"Yeah…" Konohamaru says slightly out of breath. Naruto couldn't blame the boy as this was one of his favorite hangout spots when he was little. Stepping towards the cliff Naruto takes a seat, crossing his legs. He motions for Konohamaru to sit next to him and the boy hesitantly does so.

The two sit there for a while, simply appreciating the beauty of the village, until Naruto breaks the silence. "So brat why did you want to be Hokage again? I think I already know it but I want to hear it to make sure." His tone is oddly soft, like an elder sibling talking to their younger.

Glancing at Naruto, Konohamaru wraps the ends of his scarf around his neck. "Ever since I've been born I've always been seen as 'the honorable grandson of the Sandaime', never as Konohamaru. I want to become Hokage so that people will acknowledge me as me, not as just my grandfather's grandson!"

Naruto chuckles and grins at the boy "You know that was the same reason I had for wanting to become Hokage a while ago. But my sensei told me that it was wrong and now I understand. The Hokage isn't acknowledged because he is the Hokage, rather he is Hokage because he is acknowledged."

"I uh… don't understand."

"Think about it this way. You said you would become Hokage by beating your grandfather right? Because he's the strongest person in the village right?" the boy nods "Well if you beat him could you protect Konoha like he did?"

"… I could once I grew older maybe…"

Naruto raises a finger "That's just it. Hokage-jiji didn't become the strongest after he became Hokage but he became Hokage because he was the strongest. Because he was able to protect the village through the past three Great Shinobi World Wars. Because whenever anyone in this village is in danger they know they can rely on him."

Standing Naruto spreads his arms, as if to envelope the horizon in a hug. "I want to be acknowledged like that. For people to look up to me, to depend on me. That's why I want to be Hokage. Because that means people will have acknowledged that I'm someone they can depend on. Like Hokage-jiji and the Yondaime."

Letting his words hang in the air Naruto continues to stare at the village below them. But Konohamaru doesn't respond and Naruto begins to worry. However when he turns around he almost falls off the cliff when he sees that his companions eyes have widened to ridiculous proportions, tears about to fall and both respect and worship present in equal parts.

"Naruto-niichan… that's the wisest thing anyone's ever said to me!"

'_Nii-chan?!' _"E-eh? Really –ttebayo?"

"Yeah!" Konohamaru shouts jumping up "My shinobi tutor is just always like 'You must follow my instructions as that is the shortcut to becoming Hokage!" he says tilting his head and mimicking said tutor's way of pushing up his glasses. Unfortunately Konohamaru didn't have glasses so it looks like he is just flicking someone off.

"What?! Why would you want to take a shortcut to becoming Hokage? That just means that you won't be as strong as you could have been!"

"Yeah and that's why you should train me!"

"You're really back on that again!?"

As the two bicker under the setting sun they don't notice two shadows disappear from the forests behind them.

-0-0-

"The boy's not that bad once you actually meet him is he?" Sarutobi idly inspects the seal that the brat had managed to slap onto his back earlier in the morning. It wasn't the first of its kind that he had ever seen but it was definitely one of the best.

To his side, leaning against the rails of the Hokage Tower, Ebisu pushes up his glasses. "I am surprised Hokage-sama. From what I had heard around the village I expected him to be a loud mouth braggart with no skills whatsoever to speak of."

A sweat drop forms on the back of his head. "Well let's just say the month he spent with Jiraiya-kun did helped him a lot more than we thought it did."

"Of course. Thankfully it seems Jiraiya-sama's good qualities have rubbed off on him."

'_Not just his good qualities…' _Sarutobi thinks with a flat look, staring at the 'gender bending' seal in his hand.

"Well then Hokage-sama I will pick up the Honorable Grandson at the same time tomorrow. I'll take my leave."

"Ah one moment Ebisu-kun." Sarutobi reaches into his robes and pulls out two scrolls. "If you could please deliver these I would be in your debt."

"It would be my honor Hokage-sama."

-0-0-

**AN: Short chapter, but I had a lot of trouble writing it. I already have the next chapter written for the most part so with a little bit of touching up it should be up by tomorrow. Sorry about the mishap with the update yesterday. I accidently uploaded the wrong chapter and yeah. Anyway Follow, Favorite and Review so I know how to improve!**


	5. Chapter 5: C-ranked Mission

**AN:I own NOTING**

The morning air is cool on his face and the sun begins to peak just over the horizon. It is Saturday, the last day of the week and the third day since the formation of Team Seven. At the teams usual meeting place Uchiha Sasuke sits with a slight frown on his face while Haruno Sakura sits to the side and ogles the dark haired Uchiha.

"Their late… again." Sasuke definitely does not sulk. But he is very irritated that their sensei's tardiness had somehow spread to his frie- riv- team mate.

He sighs, glaring at the horizon as if he can somehow force Naruto to appear. Naruto and Kakashi of course. And Kakashi. It isn't like he wants someone to talk to or anything.

Subconscious denial aside Sasuke's mind drifts to the past three days. It had been an odd experience if nothing else. Ever since that night four years ago he had committed himself to bringing justice upon the one who had taken everything from him, the one he once called Nii-chan, Uchiha Itachi. To that end he had denied everything thing that couldn't help him with his vengeance. Those who wished to become his friends… those who wished to give him a new family… even those who just wanted to get to know him. The closest person he had to an acquaintance was Naruto, and even that was a result of the yellow haired boy constantly challenging the Uchiha to grow stronger.

And well… that still hadn't changed much. He still tries to avoid people for the most part and ignores his fan girls but he does feel some sense of familiarity with the yellow haired boy. To the point where he can at least say he looks forward to their team meetings each day in the morning.

Speak of the devil.

"You're late!" Sakura glares at both Kakashi and the yellow haired boy that trails behind him.

"Sorry, I had to help a kid that fell into a well."

"And I had to save Ero-sensei from a monster that lived at the bottom of the well."

The glare turns into a flat look and Sakura's palm meets her face. "Idiots."

"There's two of them now." Sasuke says with a scowl.

"Can't you ever be serious Naruto?! I know Kakashi-sensei is always late but you shouldn't be picking up his bad habits!"

Naruto chuckles sheepishly and scratches the back of his head. "Sorry Sakura-chan but I actually have a reason I'm late today -ttebayo..."

"After today I'm leaving Team Seven."

"… What."

-0-0-

Legacy of the Toad Sage

Chapter 4: C ranked Mission

-1-1-2014-

-0-0-

Four shadows dash through the forests surrounding the forests, three larger shadows chasing a smaller one. The smaller shadow takes refuge in a bush, the three larger ones taking to the shadows of nearby trees as not to scare their prey.

"What is your distance to the target?" Kakashi whispers through his headset.

"Five meters. I'm ready anytime."

"So am I."

"Hn."

"Ok… go!"

They dash out from their cover and converge on their target, the cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife, Tora. However the nimble kitty swiftly jumps out from under its first two pursuers and into the arms of the third, mewling as she rubs her cheek against them.

A sweat drop forms on the back of Naruto's head as he watches the ribbon wearing cat rub its face against his chest affectionately. For some reason, ever since he had begun meditating in his spare time, often to sort out the memories past down to him by his clones, he had seemingly gained an affinity to animals of all kind, the creatures gathering around him when he would process the experiences of his clones.

Looking down he sees Tora giving him the feline version of the puppy dog eyes, as if begging him not to take her back. He can only smile apologetically back. "Sorry Tora-chan but you knew this was coming."

The cat sighs and its shoulders hunch, as if accepting its fate. Walking over Sasuke scowls "Why do you talk to it like that? It's just a stupid cat, it can't understand you."

From the tick mark on the cat's brow it definitely understood the raven haired boy's comment. A yellow eyebrow raises. For some reason the Uchiha had been really moody this morning. "In that case you hold him."

-0-0-

"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Team Seven can only watch with pity as the Fire Daimyo's wife smothers Tora in the worst level of marshmallow hell. Except for Sasuke, who has numerous scratch marks on his face and a murderous gleam in his eyes.

'_Squeeze! SQUEEEEEEEZE!'_

'_Ah, alas poor Tora-chan, we knew thee well.'_

"Ohh my cute little Tora-chan, I was so worried!" Madam Shijimi says, unaware of the suffering of the poor feline in her embrace. Handing over some money, she leaves and Team Seven, minus Sakura could only prey for the safety of poor Tora.

"Now Kakashi's Team Seven…" Sarutobi says looking at a piece of paper. "You next duty is… hmm… babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village an-"

"No."

Eyes roam to Sasuke whose face has somehow magically healed. He steps forward. "These 'missions' are beneath me as an Uchiha. I demand a better one." His tone is laced with contempt and arrogance, his face a perfect mask of stoicism except for the slight frown.

'_What is up with Sasuke today…'_

'_Kya! Sasuke-kun is so cool! But he seems angrier than usual this morning…'_

'_Hmm… looks like little Sasuke-kun is angry his friend is leaving.'_

"Sasuke-kun you've never expressed any dislike for these missions before." The Sandaime says with worry. "Is there a reason in particular you want a higher ranked mission today?"

He tries to suppress it but his eyes involuntarily dart to the side, more specifically in the direction of a certain yellow haired prankster. A knowing smile spreads on the Sandaime's face. Sasuke does not like that smile.

"Team Seven has been doing these D-rank missions for quite some time." Hiruzen's eyes close but his smile doesn't fade. "I suppose I could allow them a higher ranked mission just this once."

Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise. He turns to see similar looks of disbelief on Naruto and Sakura's face but an eye smile on Kakashi's face.

He liked that smile even less.

"Ho-Hokage-sama! I must protest-"Iruka says from the side. "They've only been genin for such little time and-"

"Mah mah it's fine." Kakashi waves off the academy instructors concerns "A simple C-ranked mission should be fine. After we probably won't run into anything I can't handle."

"Kakashi-kun is right Iruka-kun." Sarutobi picks up a scroll with multiple C's written on a piece of paper, attached to it. "A simple C-rank mission should only take a few weeks and let them see what the outside of the village is like."

"How about this? A C-ranked escort mission. It should take about three weeks to complete the mission and return village." Sarutobi sees Sasuke's eyes drift to the side as though he is counting something before they light up and he bows.

"Thank you very much Hokage-sama."

"H-hold on! Don't get me wrong I want to do a C-rank mission as much as Sasuke does but don't I have to meet up with Kurenai-sensei tomorrow?" A shiver runs down Naruto's spine. _'-and Anko.'_

"Why not just make a Kage Bunshin and send it tomorrow in your place. I'm sure you could enhance its durability with one of your wonderful seals."

"Hm that could wo- wait how do you know about my seals -dattebayo!" Naruto's eyes narrow before widening in fear. His tan skin pales as he takes a step back. Behind his desk Sarutobi holds a rectangular piece of paper with two fingers, waving it around.

"I **WILL **be getting you back for this Naruto-kun." The Sandaime says with an ominous smile on his face. He places the seal back into the folds of his robes. "But that will have to wait until you return from your mission. Tazuna-san. You may come in now."

An elderly man walks in, stinking of alcohol. "What's this? Their all a bunch of super brats!" he downs another mouthful of sake. "Especially the short one with the stupid looking face."

"Short –ttebayo?! Stupid looking face?! I'll kill you –ttebayo!" Naruto lunges at Tazuna but his forward momentum is stopped by someone grabbing the back of his jacket.

'_Heavy… how much weight does he carry in this jacket.' _The yellow haired boy continues to flail around as Kakashi holds him in the air. "No killing our client Naruto-kun. That would defeat the whole purpose of the mission."

He stops struggling but continues to glare at the old man. Said old man steadfastly ignores the glare "My name is Tazuna, the super expert bridge builder! I expect you to provide me protection until I get back to my county and complete my bridge!" 

-0-0-

"Ok this is for when you feel low on chakra and this is if anything goes wrong with the first seal..." At the great gates of Konoha Tazuna watches as Naruto hands a copy of himself two rectangular shapes of paper with odd scribbles on them.

"Are you sure these brats are qualified?"

"Ahaha… don't worry about it. I'm a jonin so I should be able to handle anything that comes our way."

"Well why don't we try this seal out first, just to make sure it's working."

"Wow I'm surprised boss. You usually don't have the insight to test out your seals before trying them."

"… Shut up and take off your shirt."

Sasuke and Sakura watch with mild interest as Naruto's clone strips down and Naruto places one of the rectangular pieces of paper on the navel of his clone. It glows for a moment before melding against the clone's tan skin so that only the scribbling remains.

"So… how do you feel?"

The clone's eyes are closed but it frowns. "It's weird. I feel… stronger. Not just like I won't pop if something hits me but I feel like I could punch through a wall."

"That might be a side effect of you having more chakra than me. The seals basically supposed to absorb the ambient chakra in the air to strengthen you up to a certain limit but I don't know if that won't have some weird side effects on you. I think it would be better to go ahead and apply the second seal now."

The clone nods and with a quick application of chakra the second seal is super imposed over the first, the two over lapping.

"Remember if anything weird happens activate the second seal. It will expel all of the foreign energy from your system. You might dispel but better safe than sorry." Naruto tells his clone as it puts its cloths back on. The clone leaves and Naruto turns to his team.

"Yosh! Now that everything's taken care of…" Naruto pumps a fist and grins "Let's go!"

-0-0-

A pool of water ripples in the center of the road and two of the people in the group of five narrow their eyes. It has not rained in the past week and it was far too dry for the puddle to be the remnants of a past rainstorm. Increasing his pace Naruto falls in step with his sensei.

"Ero-sensei..." his tone is soft enough to not reach his team mates behind him.

"Prepare to defend yourself but wait until I can confirm their target..." Naruto nods, falling back in line with his team mates.

Sure enough as soon as they walk past the puddle two shinobi rise from the puddle a chain attached between two clawed gauntlets. They dash, wrapping the chain around Kakashi and pull.

Blood sprays as the copy nin is ripped apart and the genin's eyes all widen at the brutal murder.

"One down..."

The two appear behind Naruto next, the chain wiping towards him and yet the yellow haired boy makes no move. "Two down…"

'_What is that idiot doing?!'_Sasuke jumps into the air and reaches into his kunai holster. In one motion he throws both a shuriken and a kunai, the shuriken entangling the chain and the kunai pinning it to a tree.

He lands in a crouch on the outstretched gauntlets of the men. Gripping the gauntlets with his hands, he kicks his feet back, knocking both of the shinobi back. There is a metallic sound, the chain disconnects and the two shinobi split, one going for Naruto, the other for Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san get behind me!" Sakura jumps in front of the bridge builder, kunai in hand. But the kunai is nothing compared to the clawed gauntlet of the shinobi, and would easily kill the pink haired kunoichi. Is this how everything would end? Killed by enemy shinobi on their first out of village mission?

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

An orange blur crashes into the man's back, the ground cracking beneath them. Sakura's eyes, moist with unshed tears, widen as Naruto stands up from the unconscious enemy, a visible imprint of his sandals on the shinobi's back. "You ok Sakura-chan?"

To the side Sasuke ducks under a swipe that just barely nicks his cheek. He lands multiple hits to the man's torso, jumps and spins, finishing the man with a kick that shatters his breathing apparatus. The Naruto that had been frozen previously disappears with a poof.

"You may as well come out now. Freakin lazy Ero-sensei." Picking up the man at his feet the Naruto lugs him over and dumps him on his unconscious ally. A sheepish Kakashi steps out of the bush, scratching his head.

"Well you look like you had it handled so well…"

A roll of the eyes and Naruto begins to tie the mysterious shinobi up to a tree. "These guys are chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mists. Their known to keep fighting no matter what." Kakashi says as they stand around the tied up shinobi.

"How did you know we were there?" one of the shinobi asks, glaring at the silver haired shinobi. Naruto and Kakashi look at each other and Kakashi motions for Naruto to answer.

He sends a slight glare at this sensei but nods "There was no way for the puddle to be there in the middle of a sunny day. Especially when it hasn't rained in days."

"If you knew they were there then why did you let the brats fight?!"

"Well…" Kakashi's eye drifts to Naruto. "I was sure that my team could handle themselves if things got out of hand. Onyx and blue eyes light up in joy at the praise while green lower to the ground in shame.

"But there was something I needed to find out. Who the target of these two was."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi turns to Tazuna.

"Meaning… were they after you or us. We weren't informed that there are shinobi after you. Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves or gangs. This mission has now become at least a B-rank. If it was known that shinobi were after you… it would have been an expensive B-rank. I'm sure you have your reasons but it causes problems when you lie about the mission details. We're now operating outside of our duties."

"Meh if this is all we have to worry about then we should be fine! I'll be able to kick the ass of whoever comes next easily! Besides didn't the Yondaime say 'Below courage there is nothing'?" Naruto waves his arm. "Once we take care of Sasuke's cut we should be fine!"

"What are you talking about dobe?"

"That small cut on your cheek. These guys-"Naruto kicks the two Kiri shinobi at his feet. "Had poison laced on their claws. So we just need to head back to the village to get you treated real quick and we can go!"

"That won't work Naruto-kun." Kakashi interjects. "Once you go back we'll need to tell them how Sasuke-kun got that cut. And if we do that this mission will automatically be bumped up to a B-rank. So unless one of you wants to suck out the poison-"

"I'LL DO IT KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Sakura yells, a small trail of blood running down her lips and a heavy blush on her cheeks. She turns to Sasuke and begins letting out giggles that sound suspiciously similar to the ones Kakashi would release when he was reading his little orange book. Sasuke pales and takes a step back. He didn't like it but if he had to choose between Sakura, who looks like she is about to rape him…

He turns to the person next to him. "Naruto."

His tan skin turns a light shade of green and he crosses his arms. "Noooo. Not going to happen. I'm not putting my lips on a guy, especially his face."

"Well I'm going to leave this one up to Sasuke-kun." Says Kakashi with a flat look. He turns to Tazuna. "Why don't you step over here with me and explain the situation Tazuna-san…"

Sakura inches closer to Sasuke and the raven haired boy's response is to step closer to Naruto. "It's the lesser of two evils! I swear if she gets her lips on me the poison isn't the only thing that's going to be sucked out!"

"Damnit I don't swing that way!"

"Then make a clone do it! You said you wanted to be Hokage so that people would acknowledge and depend on you. I'm depending on you now!" Naruto winces as the raven haired boy's words strike true.

Both of the boys turn to Sakura, whose hair is showing her eyes. She licks her lips and lets out another giggle. "Come here Sasuke-kuuun." Her tone is filled with lust that had no place in the voice of a twelve year old girl.

"Please, Naruto!"

"Tch!" He whips out a blank rectangular sheet of paper and wipes a piece of the Kiri shinobi's poison on it. Almost frantically he burns an intricate design on the paper with his chakra and slaps it on the Uchiha's face, sending him sprawling backwards.

"Ow… what was that for!"

"You were being weird –ttebayo! That seal should remove all of the poison from your system so I don't have to put my lips on your face!" A shiver runs down the yellow haired boy's spine. Kami forbid he actually put his mouth on Sasuke's face. He would never live it down.

-0-0-

A small boat moves through the water, carrying six passengers. Three of these passengers are men, one of them rowing the boat. One of the passengers is a girl who is busy glaring at another one of the passengers. The last two are both boys, one glaring at the other while rubbing his cheek.

The boat travels in silence after that until it reaches a small harbor and Team Seven as well as Tazuna step off.

"This is it for me. Good bye and good look."

"Yeah, thank you so much."

With the sound of a motor coming alive the small boat speeds off, leaving Team Seven and their client at the small dock.

'_Since it was chunin before this time it'll be a jonin level opponent…'_Kakashi thinks as they step off the dock and onto the road. The group travels in silence for a few minutes, all their thoughts on differing things.

'_Hmm this is odd… I'm sure there is going to be someone to intercept us before we can get to our destination but it's been oddly quiet…'_

'_My cheek still stings… did he really have to slap me so hard?'_

'_Kyaa! Sasuke-kun looks sooo cool!'_

'_Did I pack enough ramen for the trip?'_

The bush beside them rustles and Naruto instantly hurls a kunai at it. A dull 'thunk' of metal hitting wood echoes and Naruto runs over to the bush. Sakura and Sasuke miss it but Kakashi sees Naruto make a cross shaped sign just as he brings his hands together to check the bush. _'Enemies?'_

The bush reveals a small brown bunny, ears folded down and a kunai impaled just above its head. Immediately Naruto scoops up the small creature and begins rubbing it affectionately against his cheek. "Ohhhh I'm so sorry Bunny-san! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Sakura immediately begins chastising Naruto for endangering the poor animal but Kakashi and Sasuke both notice the color of the creatures fur _'I'm pretty sure that rabbits are supposed to have white fur around this time of year… that means…'_

"GET DOWN!" Kakashi tackles Tazuna and Sasuke dives to the ground. Naruto drops the furry creature and lunges at Sakura, forcing her to the ground just as a massive hunk of metal flies over them, embedding itself in a tree, a man landing on the handle.

The man is tall and noticeably muscular, with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes and small, almost unnoticeable eyebrows. Bandages are wrapped around his face in a mask like fashion and his headband is sideways on his head. He is shirtless, his chest only covered by a belt. Baggy pants with striped patterns cover his legs and mimetic wrist warmers extend up to his elbows cover his arms, another pair of leg warmers sharing the same pattern.

"Momochi Zabuza… A-rank missing nin from Kirigakure… what a surprise…" his tone is casual, almost as if he is talking about the weather. Behind him Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all tense but don't move. They can feel the man blood thirst as his brown eyes turn on him.

"Everyone get back." Kakashi steps in front of everyone, and they comply. "This one is one a whole other level." He brings a hand up to his headband.

The now named Zabuza cranes his neck "You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi… sorry but the old man is mine."

The head band is lifted to reveal a blood red eye with three coma surrounding the pupil. Sasuke's eyes widen, recognizing the iconic bloodline of his now deceased clan.

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san. That will be our team work."

-0-0-

Stepping through the shrubbery Naruto makes sure to not make a single sound. While he had entered the bush he had created a Kage Bunshin, recognizing the sign of a kawarimi. It is just a hunch but it is better safe than sorry...

He softly lands on a branch and finds his prey, just as he suspected. Crouched just outside the field of battle is what appears to be a Kiri hunter nin. Blue eyes narrow and he slips off the branch, landing in a crouch, the leaves and twigs crunching softly under his feet. With careful, measured steps he moves closer, making sure not to alert the shinobi to his presence. Mentally he thanks kami for the stealth skills he developed over the years from his pranks.

'Snap!'

A twig snaps. Eyes widening Naruto dives back as three senbon impale the area he had just been standing. His senses scream at him and he ducks, just avoiding a kick that would have knocked him unconscious. Stepping back he blocks the follow up kick and jab but a right hook slips past his guard, hitting him on the cheek and throwing him back slightly. He tries to retaliate with a punch of his own but the hunter nin quickly jumps back.

"Who are you and why were you watching me?" Naruto blinks in surprise at the feminine voice. But then again the hunter nin is wearing fairly baggy clothing. But she(he?) also has long silky hair…

"That's my line." He says, wiping a small amount of blood from his lips and dismissing the matter of his foe's gender to the far reaches of his mind. The person in front of him was about as fast as Bushy Brows without his weights but didn't hit nearly as hard. "You were the one that swapped with Rabbit-san. The other guy is too big to have fit in that tiny bush."

Both of the shinobi begin pacing around each other, making sure to not take their eyes off their opponent, measuring the other's threat level, and worst come to worst, if they could take them down.

"I am a hunter nin from Kiri, hunting the dangerous missing nin Momochi Zabuza." The hunter nin says, breaking the tense silence. "I received word that he would be hunting your client so I decided to shadow you and your team."

That's an acceptable explanation, Naruto decides. He nods and lets the tension drain from his stance. "Well I think that guy is going to be attacking my team soon so you better co-"

The sound of something flying through the air reaches Naruto's ears and he throws himself to the side just as two senbon speed past the spot where he had been, impaling themselves into a tree in front of him. Naruto's eyes widen. Those would have hit him in the neck and probably have killed him. "You have good reflexes."

Naruto stands up and glares at the hunter nin. He knew that the girl… boy… person was too young to be a hunter nin. "So you're with the Brow-less wonder?" he asks bringing a hand up to remove his jacket.

The hunter nin lets out a very feminine chuckle, oddly full of mirth. "Yes. It would be better if you were to just take your team and leave. I don't wish to harm you." Her voice holds not condescension but simple honesty. If they fight, he will lose, a simple fact that is being stated.

He raises a yellow eyebrow, unzipping his jacket. "You know, I'm pretty sure two needles in my neck are pretty harmful."

A shrug. "They wouldn't have killed you. Put you in a death-like state sure, but they wouldn't have killed you." A thick mist begins to roll in, passing through the trees and shrubbery around them. He takes off his jacket and lets it fall to the ground with a crash.

"So is this you answer?"

It would be a helpless battle, like an animal desperately trying to avoid drowning but he has to do it. If this person joined Zabuza then Kakashi would stand no chance. Sasuke and Sakura hadn't had enough training to fight someone of this caliber.

The air is tense, like two animals staring each other down. While neither wishes to do the other harm, they know it is their duty. The hunter nin to Zabuza and Naruto to his team. They both tense as the air becomes more and more saturated with moisture. Their forms fade and they move, their already burred forms disappearing into the mist.

-0-0-

The air is tense. Chakra-infused water saturates the air, coloring it a ghostly white. The three genin stand around their client in a protective formation, their sensei at point, standing guard against their invisible foe.

"Eight points… Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular, Subclavian Artery, Kidneys, Heart… which one should I choose…" the voice echoes around them, permeating the inexperienced with fear. They can tell that it isn't a bluff or a boast. It is simply a matter of the man choosing the manner in which he would like to kill them most.

In response Kakashi begins releasing his own Ki, the fusion of his chakra and intent, allowing it to force Zabuza's intent back. To the jonin it is nothing but a formality but to the genin it is as through the life is being choked out of them. As though a single mistake, a single move is all that stands between them and death. They are nothing more than flies, buzzing about as two predators prepare to fight for their meal. The pressure is unbearable as sweat drips down their faces.

'_I-I can't take this…'_the raven haired boy's entire body trembles, the business end of the kunai in his hand drawing dangerously close to his own throat. He can feel the demon's eyes on him, cold, calculating: a whim the only thing standing between him and death. _'I'd almost rather die now and get it over with!'_

"Ha, is this all you got?'

They cannot see his face but they can all but picture the cocky grin on his whiskered face. His tone exudes the cocky confidence that it has lacked the past week. It is nothing more than a show, a hollow boast but it did its job. "I have dreams worse than this –ttebayo! You ain't got nothing on me Maro-teme(1)!"

Dreams of when he is in front of the massive cage with the red eye that is about three times wider than he is tall but he isn't going to tell them that.

A sweat drop forms on the back of Kakashi's head as Naruto effectively butchers the atmosphere with a rusty spoon. Within the mists one of Zabuza's non-existent eyebrow rapidly twitches.

"Ok. I think I'm going to kill the shrimp first."

-0-0-

Two whirlwinds clash in the forests on the road to the Wave Country, clashing repeatedly, again and again and again. One of these whirlwinds is clad in orange pants, a dark blue shirt with an orange spiral in the center, and a black head band, the other in a dark green turtle neck sweat shirt with a blue battle kimono over it, baggy dark green pants, a sash in the same color and a mask with a red wave design. They don't clash for the sake of the fight but for those who they hold dear. But that doesn't mean they can't enjoy the fight.

A flurry of blows come from his side. Block the punch. Dodge the kick. Duck under the follow up kick. He throws back a punch of his own but his foe easily dodges it, disappearing back into the mists.

"This mist is really annoying…" he angrily mumbles, glancing around for any sign of movement. Unlike his opponent he has no skill to speak of in locating his opponent without the aid of his sight and the androgynous shinobi was playing that to all it is worth.

"You're quite strong for someone so young…" his hand blurs and a kunai is flung in the direction of the voice. In return three sharpened needles cut through the air. He manages to avoid most of them but one of the metal needles cuts his skin.

"Thanks, you're pretty strong yourself!" He forms the ram seal and he focuses his chakra. A golden aura flares around him and pushes the mist back. It is not a natural mist but one formed of chakra infused into water. It is a simple matter for him to dispel it with a seal but he would need time to draw it.

Over the month his control had not improved to the point where he could burn whole seals into surfaces instantly like the Yondaime did but he had gotten to the point where he could create small and simple(to him) portions of a seal, one at a time, linking them together to create the whole seal. But he would need time.

Extending his senses he searches for the hunter nin within the mist. While it obscures his vision he still has the other four senses available to him. Touch, taste, smell, sounds. Of those four only two are useful to him. Of those two he has experience with one. He focuses his senses to his ears, blocking out his sight, his smell, his touch and taste.

To left about ten meters away is the sound of lightly crunching leafs.

Blue eyes snap open and a cross shaped seal is formed. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten clones of shadow form and rush towards the location. They stand no chance against the hunter nin, of that Naruto understands. But they weren't meant to defeat the androgynous shinobi, simply stall them. He draws a blank, rectangular sheet of white paper from his pouch.

Two clones are instantly dispelled by a senbon to the neck and chest, but the others charge forward, trying to surround the nimble hunter nin. He forms the base of the seal and places a piece of the surrounding mist inside of it to serve as a catalyst to draw the rest of it into the seal.

Another clone is dispelled by a kick to the solar plexus. A fourth by a knee to the stomach and a fifth to a senbon between the eyes. The fact that they are only clones seems to cause the hunter nin to hit harder and faster. Two smaller seals surround the base, one to stop the moisture from ruining the paper, the other to reinforce the base.

Two more clones fall, two downward elbow strike shattering their collar bones. A lashing kick catches another in the throat. There is one clone left, all that stands between its creator and the enemy in front of it. A crossing seal to draw the chakra infused mist to the seal and a final seal to separate the chakra and water.

He attaches the seal to a kunai with a thread. While he could just activate it here, it would be more effective to activate it near the source. Drawing his arm back he tosses the kunai in the direction the mist initially rolled in through.

Just as the memories of his final clone being dispelled reach him, he releases a pulse of chakra to activate the seal. Instantly the mist begins moving back in the direction he threw the kunai, almost as if being drawn by a vacuum, revealing the stunned hunter nin.

A grin stretches over his whiskered face. "Found ya –ttebayo."

-0-0-

"It's over." Behind Zabuza Kakashi stands, a kunai posed to slit the missing nin's throat.

"Heheh… it's over? You don't get it." Zabuza's voice is filled with contempt. "There is no way…"

The man changes into water and the real Zabuza appears behind Kakashi. "That you could defeat me with your monkey-like imitations!"

He swings his blade, hoping to slice Kakashi in half horizontally. Kakashi crouches under the blade but Zabuza allows the momentum of the blade to swing full circle, causing it to burry itself into the ground. Following the momentum of his blade Zabuza spins, lifting one leg in the air while using his hands to spin around completely. The copy nin's eyes widen in surprise and he flies through the air, propelled by Zabuza's foot.

He lands in the nearby waters with a splash, quickly rising to the surface. Groggy from being kicked through the air he doesn't notice it at first but when he does panic grips his mind. _'This isn't normal water, it's too heavy!'_

"Fool." Zabuza appears behind Kakashi. "Suiton: Suir-"

"ERO-SENSEI GET DOWN!"

Kakashi's eyes widen and he dives below the water. Zabuza turns just in time to see a single shuriken flying towards him and the two male genin finishing their hand seals.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Katon: Gokakyu**(Fire Release: Great Fire Ball)**!"

The single shuriken multiplies into hundreds as a fireball comes from behind to envelope them. "Shit. Suiton: Suijinheki!"

The water from the nearby lake swirls and surges at the oncoming storm of fire and steel. The jonin's jutsu easily overpowers the two genin's jutsu, the water extinguishing the fire and the raging torrents crushing the constructs of chakra.

Kakashi mentally lets out a sigh of relief, having stepped onto the lake just in time to see Naruto create a clone to grab Tazuna and the four leaping out of the way of the destructive water jutsu. "That's quite interesting. I don't think I've ever seen that jutsu used that way."

"Hmph water jutsu are versatile like that." A gruff voice answers behind him. He turns and glares at the cleaver toting man, the Sharingan in his left eye spinning. He had been caught off guard underestimating his opponent and it had almost cost his team their lives. While Naruto and Sasuke might have been able to free him there was more than a bit of a chance that one of them would have lost their lives in the process.

"You almost had me there… but it won't happen again."

-0-0-

"Whoa…" Naruto breaths out in awe, looking up at the frozen dome of mirrors surrounding him. Twenty one floating mirrors surround him, twelve at ground level, eight floating above the twelve, angled towards the ground and one final mirror resting at the top. Within these mirrors nothing is reflected but the hunter nin. He can feel the cold emanating from the mirrors biting at his skin, small flecks of snow beginning to fall from the sky.

"I am sorry but I believe Zabuza-sama will require my assistance soon now that you have dispelled his mists. As such I must defeat you now."

A flash. Senbon fly at him from all directions. He draws two kunai from his holster and begins deflecting all the senbon he can track. A few senbon manage to cut him and even fewer manage to sink into his skin.

Another flash. The metal needles drizzle upon him like rain. The air pulses and the first gate releases. No longer bound by his subconscious restraints Naruto's speed increases five hold. He brandishes the kunai in his hands and the senbon fall to the ground.

A third flash. He tries to knock as many of the senbon out of the air as he can. None sink into his body but multiple cuts appear on his exposed skin. His muscles tear from the use of the first gate. He can tell he is slowing down. While he is slowing down the hunter nin is slowing down as well. It makes sense as such an amazing technique couldn't have no consequences.

"I don't want to have to kill you… but you won't stand down, will you?" The voice seems to echo from all of the mirrors at once and Naruto takes the short reprieve to catch his breath. He notes the slight bit of sadness in their voice.

"I won't let you hurt my team." He says with conviction.

"I see."

More senbon rain upon him and Naruto barely has time to wonder where in the world is the hunter nin storing all of them. Three senbon pierce his thigh and he falls to one knee.

"They are precious to you aren't they?"

The downed boy lets out a chuckle as he struggles back to his feet and grins. "That's right and that's why I can't just give up without a fight."

Two needles sink into his left arm and it falls limp at his side, the kunai clattering to the ground. "You are truly strong. Tell me what, is your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Naruto-san… I will tell your team you fought bravely for them."

More needles sink into his body and his eyelids begin to feel heavy. At this rate he could have to use _that_ move. "Don't you dare underestimate me… I told you my name so tell me yours."

"Haku." The images in the mirror raise their arms, a senbon clenched in between each finger. "You won't be able to dodge this next attack. I'll try not to kill you."

"Heh…" he crosses one arm over his chest, palm facing outward and fingers clenched. "I could say the same to you Haku-chan…"

A flash, this one brighter than any of the others and a hail of senbon speed towards Naruto from all sides. The needles around him seem to approach in slow motion and he closes his eyes. Super Bushy Brows-sensei would probably roast his ass for this but he'd at least be alive. His chakra gathers just below his stomach and his body responds.

'_Kyōmon_**_(Gate of Wonder)_**_… Open.'_

-0-0-

"Suiton: Suiryud-"

"Suiton: Suiryud-"

Kakashi and Zabuza both stop as they feel a massive release of chakra from the forests to their side.

'_This chakra is… Naruto-kun!' __Kakashi's eyes widen. The boy's chakra had gone up past his usual reserves and is still rising. This isn't a clone. It is the original. The one that had snuck off before Zabuza revealed himself. __'So there is another…'_

Cold bites at his skin and Zabuza looks up. '_It's snowing… this feeling… this is Haku's Makyo Hyosho_**_(Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)_**_… was she discovered? Did Kakashi have another brat with him?'_

Both of the jonin's dash off the water to help their respective subordinates. A flash of light and a massive explosion shakes the ground, the shockwave stopping the men in their tracks. Dirt, dust and debris buffer them, forcing them to throw their arms up in defense.

'_Such power… I'm lucky Naruto-kun didn't use this technique during the bell test…'_

'_Shit… Haku!'_

Fear and panic grip Zabuza''s mind, the image of Haku's death flashing in his mind. Channeling chakra to his feet the man takes off, Kakashi at his heels. Past the broken trees and shattered earth he arrives at the crater where he had first sensed the massive spike of chakra. In the center of the blast zone two children were on the ground, about two meters from each other. Haku appeared to be in decent shape, despite the girl having had her battle kimono, as well as a sleeve of her sweater blasted off and all of her exposed skin covered in slight burns, a thin layer of soot covering her mask. The other child, the yellow haired brat that Kakashi had been with, appeared to be in relatively the same state, with the top right part of his shirt having been blasted off and his exposed skin being covered in burns.

"Damnit I knew that was a bad idea." The yellow haired boy mumbles from his position on the ground. While he felt re-energized, due to the chakra surge of opening the gates, his muscles had more or less been turned to mush. "That was a pretty cool thing you did with the mirrors Haku-chan. probably saved both of us."

"Containing the blast was the only way to stop it from blowing the both of us away… and by the way I'm a boy."

"… I am very sorry Haku but how absurdly feminine you are will haunt me for the rest of my life. No offence."

"None taken… I guess…"

Shaking off the absurdity of the situation Zabuza jumps over to Haku as Kakashi bursts from behind him and lands in front of Naruto. A strange kind of understanding pass between the two men and they give each other the slightest of nods.

"I'll leave things here for today Kakashi… but mark my words, that old man will die by my blade." Zabuza says lifting Haku into his arms, making sure not to touch any of the girl's burns. He raises an eyebrow in question but she waves it off with her good arm, signaling she will tell him later. The two disappear and Kakashi sighs, letting the tension drain out of his body.

He turns and looks down at the boy lying on the ground, horror and shock on his face. Kakashi couldn't blame the boy. He had probably looked the same under his mask the first time he had met an extremely androgynous shinobi. "You ok down there Naruto-kun?"

"… I feel dirty in an extremely wrong way."

Yep. The boy seemed ok.

-0-0-

"So why did you tell him you were a boy?"

"I didn't like how he immediately started calling me 'Haku-chan'. While I can tell he didn't mean it offensively I still couldn't help myself."

"That's cruel Haku. Really cruel."

-0-0-

**AN: Not much to say. I wasn't able to get this out yesterday cause relatives came over to celebrate New Years. I'm posting this from my laptop right before sleeping. School starts tomorrow and I'm really sad about that T_T. Next chapter should be out in a week or so and yes Haku is really a girl! Until next time! Review, Follow, Favorite and have a happy New Years!**

(1)Maro is a Japanese term for someone with thin or shaved eyebrows.


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